Fairy Tail: Red Dawn
by Alphathecreator
Summary: The world of mage's is slowly approaching the ultimate clash of good versus evil. A forgotten legend is amongst them, but has yet to act due to his haunting past. A man wiser than everyone, yet still foolish as anyone. Could this man really be the savior? With time running out, why is his main concern keeping his fellow friends in line? A journey filled with comedy,romance,& wisdom
1. Ch1: Awakening from Dreams of the Past

Hey there! This is my first story that I decided to write here since I got tired of reading the typical stuff they have here. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of good stories out there, it's just that there's some that you just don't get into because of how redundant they get. Anyway this story is on two of my most favorite anime. I've seen most of the Naruto series, except some of those unnecessary arcs, and read almost all of it. Fairy tail is another story, I've seen most of the dubbed episodes, up to around 215, but have not read the manga. So in other words if I get anything wrong please inform me.

Ive got most of this story made up in my mind, but I just can't seem to find a good ending that closes what I have in my mind. So feel free to tell me what you think, just don't expect much to change. The romance, by the way, won't be a factor until later chapters.

Im pretty sure you'll what my writing style is like, but just to be sure

 _italics is a dream_

"quotation are for speech"

'these are for inner thoughts'

I don't know if I need to say this, but I don't own neither Naruto nor Fairy Tail obviously.

Enjoy!

* * *

Fairy Tail: Red Dawn

 _"Come on jiji we're almost there" came the gleeful shout of a twelve year old blond girl as she was climbing up the biggest tree in the vicinity. The island was vast with plentiful of trees and lacked population as the only inhabitants were the girl and the man. Though isolated through the body of water, the land was full of life and warmth from the peacefulness of Mother Nature. The shout itself could be heard throughout the island and could be claimed as the voice from heaven with how high the tree was and the girl's angelic voice._

 _As the girl looked back to her grandfather, she noticed that he was being distracted by the land as if reminiscing the good old times. The man was fit and in fact one wouldn't dare to call him "jiji" with the way his blond, spiky hair was flowing in the wind and the lean body that was pure muscle. The only reason one would even consider him somewhat old was the long beard that adorned his face. That very same face that had his left eye covered with what she was told was a headband with a weird leaf insignia from his good old days by wearing it slanted. The man in question was currently climbing the tree effortlessly with his feet in a manner that defied gravity. The girl never understood how he did all those things which he claimed wasn't magic. She always thought it was awesome. Every time he climbed a tree with his feet or walked on water, she had a star-struck look, with literal stars formed in her eyes and pleaded him to teach her how to do that, which he sternly refused saying he was the only that could do those feats and saying "because Naruto Uzumaki is just that awesome"._

 _"Yeah! Yeah! I'm going Mavis-chan!" Came the reply from the now identified Naruto Uzumaki. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, yet his wisdom from the years told another story. Dressed in his usual red sage coat, with a white shirt and black with red sweater under along with gray pants with red stripes. The days from only wearing orange were over, mainly due to his dear Sakura-chan beating that habit out of him._

 _"Come on jiji the sun is almost setting! Hurry up or I'm going to start calling you a pirate! Arg!' Mavis shouted with a touch of irritation and desperation in it._

 _"I'm going, just hurry up and make it to the top" he replied and muttered something about "damn brat being too noisy, wonder where she got that from". Mavis just did as told, not catching the last remark, while Naruto kept ascending at the same pace, his mind being elsewhere. With every step he took up he was reminded of his past. The good old genin days with the "teme" and Sakura-chan, where now that he thought about it he was so annoying. His fight with "teme" and his promise of a lifetime to Sakura-chan. His return from the training trip with the self-proclaimed super perv. The loses received via the Akatsuki, including the death of his pervy old godfather. The defeat of the Akatsuki that felt so bittersweet, where he finally got that approval and acceptance from the citizens of Konoha that despised him so much for what he held. The beginning of the war with Madara, where the fate of the world was at stake, where the world finally united to stop evil, where he finally matured and attained the power to protect what was precious to him. The very own power of the Nine Tailed Fox, where he was allowed to finally meet his mother. His death and resurrection. Reuniting with his team to defeat Madara and becoming the jinchuuriki of all the tailed beasts afterwards. Fighting Sasuke for the world's freedom in an epic battle, and defeating him at the cost of his right hand and Sasuke's left. Finally returning home with Sasuke and accomplishing his promise of a lifetime. Sakura confessing again, four years after the war, and he accepting her, eventually marrying each other. The kids that followed in just a matter of time, and achieving his long lost dream of becoming Hokage. Years later he noticed that he stopped aging, still appearing to be around 25, while all his friends had wrinkles and gray hair, though it took him a while to notice. He then took a henge to avoid suspicion from the general population, and eventually stepped down from being Hokage. Friends passing away one by one, with Sakura being one of the lasts, and the first being Sasuke due to all the drugs he took. Generations passing as he was kept hidden from the populace, only seen by his direct family. The end of the ninjas system and the beginning of the current era. Fights of mass destruction, such as with the Otsutsuki clan, and him saving the day. The constant clashes reshaped the world, resulting with what used to be Konoha to be present day Tenrou Island. His descendants inhabiting the island, some leaving and in later years returning. And the birth of his final descendant at the time, Mavis, who he was almost one hundred percent that she was also a descendant of his old friend Ino._

 _Naruto finally made it to the top. The view was breathtaking. The sky was clear and the sun was setting, and there in the middle of the treetop sat Mavis with glittering particles flowing in the wind, and her long blond hair waving from side to side._

 _"It's finally time huh?" Her voice came out as a small whisper but Naruto could hear all the emotion so clearly. Mavis turned around and Naruto could have sworn he saw one of the cutest scenes he had in his life. Mavis had tears all over her face, and was wearing a trembling smile. Her eyes for some reason appeared to be enlarged and snot was flowing as if her nose was a sort of stream. Add the perfect background that there currently was, any man would've been to tears. Fortunately Naruto was no ordinary man, through all his wisdom he collected through the years, he slowly approached Mavis. He then engulfed her in a hug, to which she then let out more tears. Rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be alright, in order to comfort her, Mavis was slowly ceasing her cries._

 _"It'll be fine Mavis-chan. Stepping out to the real world will be an amazing life experience I promise you, and you know how I am with my promises. There you'll find friends, happiness and love. Though times will get hard, it's through those hardships that you'll learn the most. Life's an unending adventure filled with mysteries that won't always be answered, yet they always leave you satisfied. Make sure to eat right, brush your teeth every day and night, take a shower every day, and sleep right because you're going to need a lot of sleep to grow. As for boys ... make sure that I approve of him or at least make sure he won't get killed when I go out to hunt him. Oh and try to steer away from that teme's descendant... What was his name Zeus? Zero? Zed? Zebra? Heard something about him being immortal and evil, a bad combination if you ask me. Well whatever, you get my point. I'll always be here waiting for you. I love you, so have fun and please be safe, okay?"_

 _When Naruto looked down at Mavis, she was already sleeping with a peaceful expression. Not sure if she heard what he just said, Naruto simply settled with staring her for a couple more seconds with a smile, and then back at sky that had turned into night. The night was filled with stars, and if possible looked even more beautiful than the perfect sunset from moments ago. The smile he now wore seemed as if he were reminiscing._

 _"It's time for your turn to watch over her huh? Take good care of the brat, I have a feeling she'll need it."_

Naruto awoke to find a sakura leaf on his forehead, while others were falling down with the wind. He looked up to find the source of his awakening being the full blooming sakura tree he was sleeping on. How he loved to lay back and relax in that very own spot. It just gave of a sense of serenity, that at times he felt as if was around his deceased friends, and more so than often it felt like his old lover was the one supporting him. He slowly got, and an immense pain took over. Images of his great grandchild's lifeless body replaying in his head. An image that he quickly tried to forget with nature's peacefulness. He used the sakura tree as a means of support while all those images resurfaced.

That image forever engraved into his mind. That night in his dream was Mavis last night with him before her departure to the world outside, beyond the islands boundaries. It was the last time he saw his great grandchild full of life, or any life in the matter. The night she died, he immediately recognized the danger she was in via his perfected same mode. He instantly teleported to where he had marked Mavis with. Upon arriving the atmosphere, went sour and cold.

 _"You!... You're the reason this happened! I knew I should've killed you back then Zebra!" Naruto screeched to the person who he now despised with all his life. There holding the lifeless body of Mavis, was a black haired man dressed in a black robe and a white toga, and what many would claim having the blackest heart and darkest soul. Naruto approached the man, and you could see the ground around him to crumble. His whiskers were better defined with an animalistic touch, eyes flashing red and blue, and an air of death of surrounding him. The Shinigami himself would confuse Naruto for a Shinigami. He grabbed on the man's wardrobe, who had yet to let go of Mavis. It was at that point that Naruto noticed the tears falling from his face._

 _"Hey teme what did you do! And why are you crying!" Naruto's eyes finally settled to red, but what was peculiar was the three black and red commas each held. "Answer me dammit!" Finally having enough, Naruto yanked Mavis from the man, hugging her closely to his chest. Tears falling down, he made his best attempt to speak to her. "Honey it's time to wake up jiji's here. Honey, come on. Hey. ... Ma...vis... -cha...", and he finally broke down into tears._

Finally regaining his bearings, he remembered where he was. All around him were trees that were blooming to their fullest. Looking to his far right, Naruto could see an enormous tree that seemed to be touching the sky. Mesmerized by it, the dream slowly resurfaces and he displays a small, sad smile. He then looks to his left and sees the clear ocean, with small waves every once in a while. 'Tenrou Island sure is beautiful, it compares to the skies beauty, right Sakura-chan?' Naruto takes a step towards where the sea was, but suddenly falls face first to the floor.

He immediately gets up and yells "Whoa there! Nobody saw that right?" He looks left, then right, and finally up. "I bet you guys are laughing your asses right now! Probably saying something like 'the mighty and awesome Naruto Uzumaki can be beat'. Hardy har har! ... How long has it been since I moved?" He then approaches the coasts and looks across the sea where he spots a thin layer of clouds.

"It's finally time huh?"


	2. Ch 2: Misunderstandings & Mistakes

Author notes

opsie daisy, I updated this chapter but ended submitting the first chapter instead. So as a sort of apology I'll leave a preview of the next chapter at the bottom

just for reference again

 _italics is for dreams/flashbacks_

"quotation marks are for speech"

'whatever these are(apostrophes I think) for inner thoughts'

 **bold is for demons/monsters speaking**

* * *

 _What seemed for an eternity of sobbing, Naruto finally got his bearings together and remembered who he who was with. "You! I don't give a crap if you're Sasuke's great-great grand brat. For all I care you could god himself. You need to be stopped, and I'll make sure of that. I haven't seen my kid in more than ten years and you pull this shit! What did you to her dammit?!" His only sharingan blazing into life, the black man received, what should be impossible, hundreds of images of his death._

 _The man, staying quiet through the whole tantrum, hesitated to answer. "That is of no concern. What matters now is what course of action..." he responded but suddenly interrupted by the blond's outcry._

 _"SHUT UP! Don't tell me that crap! Tell me what you did to her! And while you're at it, give me your name to remember what to put on your grave after I'm through with you!"_

 _"I am Zeref Dragneel. And as for..." The now identified Zeref answered but again was interrupted by the 'wise' blond._

 _"Wait you're not Zebra Uchiha or anything close to it. Now that I mention it who did that teme get with? Was it the one red head? What was her name? Katy? Kayla? Karina? Cheese and crackers am I really losing my mind? Am I finally getting old? Forget that! What did you do to her 'Zeref'" The blond finally remembering what he came here to do, 'kindly' held Zeref who was returning his gaze. The blond finally noticed the red eyes Zeref held, but if it was from anger or from crying he wasn't sure. After finally noticing what the blond had asked, Zeref turned his gaze elsewhere, remembering the cause of this catastrophe._

 _"Hey why are you looking away!?" Naruto yelled back when he noticed Zeref wasn't going to answer. Getting irritated from the lack of response, he started wiggling him. Just when he had enough, Zeref muttered something incomprehensible. Naruto for some reason couldn't hear what he said, and to be honest he felt as he didn't want to hear it. "For crying out loud talk louder. Aren't you supposed to be a man feared by many?"_

 _"We kissed, and moments after she..." Zeref again was interrupted with what seemed impossible a more furious blond._

 _"YOU WHAT! You better start praying to that puny god you believe in. I'm gonna make you wish you were born ga..." Out of pure frustration from the blond's lack of understanding, Zeref bravely, or stupidly depending on the point of view interrupted him._

 _"Sir please understand that I loved her, and she loved me back" 'or at least I'd like to think that she did, she was never clear on how she felt' " I would never do anything to purposely harm her" Zeref spoke with a clear conviction, while his mind was going in overdrive of what Mavis meant to him, and what she thought of him._

 _Naruto, who miraculously listened to the dark mage's words, was at a loss of words. 'Didn't I tell that idiot to stay away from Zebr- I mean Zeref? Now that I think about it, wasn't she sleeping when I told her? Idiot! That's why I tell all you youngsters to listen to an old man's words of wisdom. The great and powerful Naruto Uzumaki knows all! I can tell he's being sincere, and his body feels tormented with this emotion sensor I got after Kurama and I became partners.'_

 _Zeref, who noticed that the blond was frozen after his declaration, approached Mavis' body. He looked over for a second, in which he had committed to a decision. Using his magic, he inserted a lacrima through Mavis' stomach. After doing so he enchanted a few spells that resulted in a purple magic circle appearing with intricate designs and caused Mavis' body to be lifted three feet in the air. Wind begun to escalate around her body, and the designs were slowly being transferred into the lacrima, with the lights flashing, thus awakening Naruto from his stupor._

 _"Hey grand-teme what do you think you're doing!?" Naruto yelled over the now screeching wind._

 _"I am bringing Mavis back from the dead. Now if you could kindly shut up as this requires an immense concentration." Though the situation proved to be hard on Zeref, as you could tell with the sweat forming and intense gaze on Mavis' body, he spoke calmly._

 _"Stupid brat that's not gonna work! That's only going to destroy her body and cause her soul to be forever lost! Where did you even learn this? Have you tried it on anyone?" Naruto spoke back._

 _"I have only done this procedure a handful of times. I learned it when I tried to revive my brother." Zeref answered careful to not let out any valuable information._

 _"Brother?! Where is he right now?"_

 _"...that is of little importance. I'd rather not speak of it." The way he spoke gave Naruto an eerie feeling. He was holding off information, that he was aware of, but how much?_

 _"Look kid I have no idea what happened to your brother, and to be honest I don't care either. What I do care about is protecting Mavis. I know you understand the loss we immortals face. Watching your loved ones die right in front of your eyes isn't something pleasant. But you need to be strong and let things go when they're meant to be. So just stop what you're doing, and let Mavis rest in peace."_

 _Naruto's words caused a momentary pause in Zeref's actions, but that was it. He put even more effort into resuscitating Mavis, but in doing so his focus was haywire. Mavis' body was slowly deteriorating, with cracks appearing on her, what used to be flawless pale, skin. Upon taking notice of what was happening to Mavis', Naruto immediately lunged forward towards Zeref and tackled him hard to ground, ending the spell and causing Mavis' body to fall hard on the ground with a resounding thud. Zeref's anger was at an all-time high after that small scene. He appeared to have an aura of death luminescing over him, with plants and wildlife all around the area losing their life and color._

 _"Why did you do that?" He calmly spoke, yet you could hear the venom in his voice, as if daring the world to oppose him._

 _"Why?! Idiot! Don't you see what's happening to her?! Her body's breaking apart! If you kept at it, her body would have been completely destroyed, with no way to put it back together. Not to mention, her soul would be in the hands of the Shinigami, never to be freed. God dammit! Just let me handle this."_

 _Taking a long breath to prepare for the upcoming exhaustion, Naruto closed his visible right eye and spoke in his mind. 'Yo! Kurama! You awake!' Silence was all he received, his thoughts echoing through all the calamity of the situation. 'Come on Kurama, I know you hear me! At least tell the others!' Again silence was all he got. 'Look Kurama I'm sorry that I haven't let you guys out in a while, or even spoke to you guys. I really am. It's just that times have been more peaceful than they were back then. I know that's not an excuse but please lend me your power.'_

 _While Naruto was having his internal struggle, Zeref was having one of his own. 'Are you gonna do something! It's been more than five minutes and you have yet to act! And why do you have your eyes closed?! I thought she was your most precious person. Do something already. I love her. Please...'_

 _Seconds later after both had come to terms to the situation, a voice finally responded to both their prayers. **'Kit. It's been a while hasn't it?'** The voice in Naruto's mind was all groggy, and exhausted, yet it filled hope into the host. 'Kurama! Thank god! I was starting to get restless. Did you hear what I had to say?'_

 _' **Hey keep your voice down, I was in a slumber you know. Feels like I slept for two centuries. And yeah we all heard you. The rest of them just want to keep sleeping though.'**_

 _'Pretty sure it was only one century. Anyway, what did you guys think? Are you guys gonna help out? You guys have an idea of what I'm planning right?'_

 ** _'Yeah, yeah! You're planning on leaving some entities on her like your father did with me by sealing my yang in you. Too much of a hassle if you ask me. Well, do as you please, not like can argue with you.'_**

 _'Come on Kurama, I know you guys actually like me, if not then why was I chosen as the jinchuuriki for all nine of you. Besides I'm only planning on leave you guys yin half, that is if you guys agree on doing this.' You could hear the desperation in his voice even though he tried to hide it. He was sincere with his explanation but time was an essence._

 ** _'Look Kit! I already said that we do whatever you like. We're the slaves and you're the master. Simple as that. Isn't this how things work?' From the years of living together, Naruto got what Kurama was trying to say._**

 _'Huh? Seems this bastard still won't admit that he'll help out just cuz he feels like it. Who's this fur ball trying to fool with the whole I'm the epitome of evil act?'_

 _ **'You do realize that I just heard that right? As for me acting like I'm evil, should I remind you WHO THE MIGHTY AND FEARSOME KYUUBI IS?!'** Naruto could have sworn that the earth itself shook from the outburst. Therefore, Naruto immediately took action before Kurama started another rant on his evilness._

 _'Get on with it you say? Okay don't mind if I do.' Ignoring Kurama's outburst on how he was being ridiculed by a puny human, he concentrated to find that inner power he hadn't used in a while. 'Okay breathe and release,' he thought, and moments later he felt the surge of power. Finally opening his eye, he found the shocked look on what used to be an always calm Zeref. 'Looks like I broke through the calm facade he always has.' But who wouldn't be surprised by the scene. There stood a golden flamed Naruto and black markings covering his body. The ground was cracked and there were rocks and other particles flying off from the power emanating from him._

 _"HIS POWER LEVEL IS OVER 9000!" Joked Naruto, though it seemed Zeref didn't understand, or even heard it, as he was still in shock and just stood frozen. Ignoring Zeref, which wasn't too hard since he lacked a reaction, the last ninja went to work._

"ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS! WE HAVE ARRIVED AT MAGNOLIA TOWN, OUR FINAL DESTINATION! PLEASE EXIT CAREFULLY! THANK YOU FOR PICKING US AS YOUR TRAVEL! HAVE A NICE DAY!" Came the loud voice of the speakers that informed all the passengers except one who was in a peaceful slumber before the announcement. The words fell into deaf ears of the blond man. Naruto jolted due to the sudden change in pace of the train and the loud sounds reproduced from the announcer and passengers exiting. The abrupt stop had caused not only for him to wake up from the flashback, but also caused the book that was resting on his temple to fall. The sudden loss of the book caused him to be blinded by the lights.

"Ugh stupid daylight! Now where's my book The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi." Trying to find it, though still partially blinded, the blond stood up, with his long blond hair swinging from side to side by his hips, only to feel a tug on his red coat. Finally regaining his vision in his lone eye, Naruto saw a little boy, no older than eight holding on to his book. Behind the boy stood his mother, who had a proud look on her face for how responsible her boy was acting.

"This is yours! Right mister?" The boy spoke in a soft, innocent voice.

"Yeah. Thanks for picking that up for me."

"No problem mister. Mommy always says to pick up stuff that old people drop because they can't do much from laying on the bed all day long. Here you go!" The boy spoke again in that innocent voice, but you could hear excitement in it for doing something his mother would surely be proud of. Upon hearing what her boy just said, the mother tried to hurry her son before anything more embarrassing happens. She took the book from her son, and was handing it to the blond, who was muttering something about him not looking old and kids these still don't respect their elders, when she noticed the title and the very explicit images on the cover. It read Icha Icha Paradise 6 and had an image of the top portion of a beautiful, naked blond woman with a large bust that was barely covered by the title.

"What type of literature is this?! Have you no shame?! Ah! My little boy touched it! Peter, hurry up! I'm taking you to a church to cleanse all the evil out!"

"Woah woman calm down, it's just a book. And I'll have you know that the book was what inspired my parents in naming me. As a matter of fact, my life is loosely based off that book's main character." Naruto responded to the mother's insults, oblivious to what the book actually was.

"What vulgar things are you saying?! And in front of my little Peter!"

"Look ma'am, that book has an incredible story, and if 'Peter' here wants to read it, I'll gladly lend it to him and retrieve once he's done, though it appears that not the case. So can I just my book back?"

"Gladly! Here!" The mother turns away, dragging with one hand little Peter, who was waving goodbye to the blond, and uses the other hand to throw the book back without even looking. Naruto reacted right away by dolphin diving towards the book and catching it before it could hit the ground.

"My precious. My precious." Naruto repeats hunched over, with his eye closed, and holding the book close to his face, still oblivious to what he was holding and doing. Finally opening his lone eye, he takes note of the book. "My precious? Wait! Why am I holding onto this book? Shouldn't it be The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja, not Icha Icha Paradise 6? Don't tell me I grabbed my memento from Kakashi sensei instead of the actual book from my bag last night. Then... Wait! Ma'am it's not what you think! Wait!" So thus he took chase after the fleeing mother and son.

Upon looking back and not seeing any trace of what she considered a perverted man, she stopped and took a breather, along with her boy. "Phew! That was close! Listen here Peter, you stay away from people like him okay?"

"Yeah kid listen to your mother. Stay away from perverts, and any suspicious people." Hearing the voice from behind her, she immediately reacted by screaming and shortly after fainted.

"Huh? Didn't expect that to happen. Guess I'll just wait till she wakes up. Hey Peter! Let's go sit on the bench by the shade over there." The blond gently picks up the unconscious woman, and proceeds to carry her towards the bench with the boy following him. He lays her down on the bench, using his bag as a pillow.

"What to do? Hey kid do you know where you're supposed to be going?"

"With my daddy. He lives here, but I don't know where because mommy and daddy don't live together. This is my first time meeting him." The little boy answered back and Naruto could tell even without his abnormal affinity in reading people's emotions from being the kyuubi's jinchuuriki that he was really nervous about visiting his father.

"Hey don't worry about it. I'm sure your mother's alright, and once she wakes you'll be on your way meeting him. I'm sure he still loves you. Tell you what, while we wait for your mom to wake I'll read a chapter or two from my favorite book. What do you say?" Spoke Naruto trying to ease the kid and to kind of inspire him through the use of very emotional and exciting scenes from the book.

It wasn't until half an hour later that the mother regained her senses. The first thing she saw was her little boy being attentive to every word spoken from a blond man. 'Wait! Blond man?!' She immediately screeched once she noticed who the blond man was. "You! What did you do my body while I was asleep? Forget that! What did you do to my poor boy?!"

"Oh you're awake?! Great! I just need to say a couple things, and ask one question and you can be your way."

"I'm not answering anything!"

"Please I just need to do this. You can refuse to answer my question, but let me do this to clear things up."

"Forget it! Peter we're leaving! Come over her..."

Before she could finish speaking the blond did something she would never consider he could do. There stood Naruto with his head bowed down, showing he was sincere in his apology.

"I'm really sorry for what happened in the station. I was sure that the book I picked to cover me from the lights was the book I claimed, but apparently it wasn't. It was actually a book my late sensei gave to me as a memento. I deeply apologize for scaring you back there, and for wasting your time. Would you allow me to speak about your son however?"

Finally getting over her shock and understanding his words, she dumbly nodded as she was still at a loss of words.

"I commend you on how you single handedly raised your boy, but trust me, that boy is going to need his father. Living without parents is a painful experience that no child should face. It is possible to move forward and have a great life without them, but you're forced to mature earlier and have somewhat of a bittersweet childhood. Please allow Peter to meet with his father more since he has the opportunity to do so, unlike many." At the last sentence, Naruto bowed again to show respect. The words touched the mother as she recalled all the times Peter was always trying to make her happy, instead of the other way around. He was always acting polite and trying to make her proud.

'My little Peter sure is growing fast. Stupid kid, I'm the one that's supposed to make you happy, not the other way around. I'll make sure to fix that.' She thought displaying a small genuine smile. "Yeah I think I understand what you're getting at. I'll make sure he has the best childhood he can."

"Thanks for listening, I'm sure things will work out. Now you should hurry up and take him to his father. Time's a-wastin'!"

"Alright then. Thanks for looking out for him while I was passed out. It also seems he isn't nervous about meeting his father anymore, so thanks."

"Don't worry about that, that was all my fault, it's the least I could do."

The mother accepted that, and began to walk away holding hands with a clearly excited Peter. The scene appeared to be like a scene out of a movie with the perfect setting. The sun was setting, giving the sky an intense red color. The streets were dying out with people going home, giving of a mood of serenity. The boy suddenly turned around and waved at Naruto.

"Bye mister! Thanks for reading me that book!" The boy spoke with clear excitement and gratefulness. That book the 'old man' read gave him a strong conviction in meeting his father.

Naruto just waved back until he remembered something. He forgot to ask them the question. 'I'm really starting to lose it!' "Hey! I forgot to ask you guys my real question. Do you guys happen to know where the Fairy Tail guild is?!" He called out to the retreating family.

The mother turned around and pointed towards the center of the city. "Fairy Tail? It should be in that direction. It's one the biggest buildings in town, and it's really hard to miss."

"Okay! Thanks! The name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm at your service. Just give me a heads up." Naruto then bowed his head again towards them and moments later disappeared from view in an impressive speed. The mother was left in awe again, but shortly after smiled at knowing there were still good men in this world. It wasn't until she and her boy met the father that she realized the mistake she made by taking the opportunity of them being with each other. All because of a stupid argument she decided to leave the man she loved, and still loved. They were most likely going to restart their relationship as he was still single ever since she left him. That itself proved he still loved her. Living here in Magnolia wouldn't be too bad, and she had a feeling that the town was going to go through big changes and that man was at the center of it. 'Naruto Uzumaki, huh?'

* * *

There stood Naruto, in a brown robe with its hood covering him, in front of an old, red two-story building. "So this is your legacy Mavis-chan. Fairy Tail huh? Well, let the adventure begin!" He said, proud of what his granddaughter (he lost the count of from generation she was from) accomplished. Thus begins the true story with the push of those sturdy old doors.

* * *

Author notes

Hope you enjoyed that new chapter. There isn't going to be much or any more on the mother and son, I only had this scene to show more of Naruto's character. Just showing that even though he matured a lot there's still some of his old persona, though this is only happening at the moment because he hasn't made a lot of contact with people due to his isolation. You'll see how he'll progress in future chapters.

so this is the preview of the next chapter. Again I'm sorry for mixing up the chapters

Understanding that something was needed to be done, he acted. He approached who seemed to be the master as he had this air of power. The short, old man with a bald spot on his spiky, gray hair dressed in a peculiar outfit that resembled a joker, was currently chugging a mug of beer on top of the bar counter. As he approached the old man that was steadily watching him, the last ninja was aware of the stares he was receiving from the guild members. Finally standing a meter of the master, the hooded man spoke in a groggy, raspy voice that gave him off as an old man with the long beard he was adorning and the covered face due to the hood of his brown robe.

"The master, you are? Hmmm."

"Huh? What's that sonny?" Inquired the old man, surprised by the manner this new arrival was speaking.

"Strong and powerful, you are. Join, I wish to. Hmmm."

"You okay kid? Here I think you need this." The master said handing him a beer. The whole guild was at a loss at what was happening with the socially, awkward hooded old man and their old master. Naruto, however, proceeded as if nothing weird was happening.

"Understand, you do not. Strong in you, the magic is. Naruto Uzumaki, I am. Hmmm."

"Okay Naruto Uzumaki, what brings an old coot like you to our humble abode?"

"Join, I wish to."

* * *

The scene may seem weird now but I'm sure you'll understand it better next chapter. Until then!


	3. Ch 3: Joining and Jokes

Author notes

Just a heads up that this chapter might be a little more difficult to read due to the references made. Footnotes are provided if you don't understand what's being said. I even got somewhat confused with what I was writing, but the reference I made is the manner of speaking of a movie character.

Also, this chapter took a bit longer than I wanted it to because I had to do some research on some of the characters and guild itself. I ended up watching clips from episode 112 to get the basic setting.

Anyways as always

 _Italics are for flashbacks or dreams:or used on occasion for whispers or sarcasm_

 _"_ Quotetation marks are for speech"

'apostophres are for inner thoughts'

And of course I don't own either stories, if so this story would've been published.

Enjoy!

* * *

There stood the hooded figure in the last rays of sunshine of the day in front the red, round doors that seemed to open inwards. Opening those sturdy old doors let an odor the hooded blond wished he hadn't smelt as it was almost choking him due to his enhanced senses. The guild stenched of beer and men. The scent of beer was something he could get used to due to his experience with granny Tsunade and his travels with Jiraiya, but the scent of these men was something else. It was a scent of men that just accepted life as it was. He recognized this scent anywhere. It was the smell of defeat and loss.

The guild itself, besides reeking of booze, seemed very typical, if in fact somewhat old. Most of the furniture, such as benches, tables, and stools, were made from wood. The floor, walls, stairs and structural pillars were also wooden. Besides the typical furniture, there was a large bar, with a variety of selections for drinks on a large countertop, that was surrounded by orange, wooden stools. There were stairs that led to a second floor that was mostly hidden from view from the entrance and first floor.

The guild members that were currently in the guild hall seemed to fit in with the guild as they were very ordinary, except for a few individuals. There were three that caught his eye besides the master himself. Two of them were next to each other laying their depressed faces on the table while holding a mug in their hands, occasionally sighing. One of them had short, spiky dark blue hair and a scruffy beard and was wearing a blue, long sleeve shirt with cream colored pants. The other man was wearing sunglasses along with a yellow-brown, leather jacket and orange shirt, with his brown hair in a stylish pompadour, and was holding a cigar in his mouth. They both appeared to be around 25. The last man who caught his attention, mainly because he was sketching a dark image while wearing a black witch hat that had a large, brown stripe across it, was in fact a teen who appeared to be around 16. He was obviously talented in drawing, so the blond assumed he had magic related to drawing. He was tall and slim with light orange, curly hair, and was wearing a white, long sleeve shirt with the sleeves folded up to the elbow, along with denim, black pants. Besides these guys, the guild seemed very ordinary, but who was he to judge based off looks. The hooded blond also noticed that there was probably a low female to male ratio, as no woman would allow to men to just sit around and rot with those gloomy faces. The few women that were members were probably away on missions and unaware of what happened in the guild.

Understanding that something needed to be done, he acted. He approached who seemed to be the master as he had this air of power. The short, old man with a bald spot on his spiky, gray hair dressed in a peculiar outfit that resembled a joker, was currently chugging a mug of beer on top of the bar counter, with drips of the beer slipping into his large, bushy mustache, with his feet crossed and next to him was a wooden staff that was about his size, if not taller, with a smiley face imprinted on the top. As he approached the old man that was steadily watching him, the last ninja was aware of the stares he was receiving from the guild members. Finally standing a meter in front of the master, the hooded man spoke in a groggy, raspy voice that gave him off as an old man. Add to that the long beard he was adorning and the covered face due to the hood of his brown robe, who wouldn't confuse him for an old man.

"The master, you are? Hmmm." (1)

"Huh? What's that sonny?" Inquired the old man, surprised by the manner this new arrival was speaking. The master spoke in a raucous, yet exhausted voice.

"Strong and powerful, you are. Join, I wish to. Hmmm." (2)

"You okay kid? Here I think you need this." The master said handing him a beer. The whole guild was at a loss at what was happening with the socially awkward hooded old man and their old master. Naruto, however, proceeded as if nothing weird was happening.

"Understand, you do not. Strong in you, the magic is. Naruto Uzumaki, I am. Hmmm." (3)

"Okay Naruto Uzumaki, what brings an old coot like you to our humble abode?"

"Join, I wish to." (4)

"You want join you say, well why didn't you say that in the first place? I'm Makarov Dreyar, third master of the Fairy Tail guild. Now then, why don't you tell me why you want to join one of Fiore's best guilds."

"The King, I shall protect." (5)

"The king? Then wouldn't a rune knight be a more suited position?"

"Him, I speak not of. The king, the new generation is." (6)

"The new generation? Hmmm? It seems that age has certainly made you wiser. I would've never thought of them as the king. Your reason seems valid, but I doubt you'll be able to do much with how old you seem. You'll probably need another job to cover your expenses. Are you sure you want to join? Perhaps you could be a part-time bartender instead, as I think you'll have a good influence on these kids?"

"Strong, I am. Age matters not." (7)

"If you say so. Who am I to refuse an old man that wants to help the young? Now where wou-" Started the third master, only to be interrupted by the outcry of the hooded figure that just had enough with this needless conversation of age. He pulled down his hood for the first time since he entered the guild. Gasps could be heard from all around the guild from taking in the actual appearance of the unhooded man. There stood a long haired blond in his mid twenties with a tremendously large beard that was mostly hidden in his robe, not the crippled old man they expected. For some reason he was wearing a headband with a leaf insignia, slanted, covering his left eye. The long hair that resembled his godfather's, Jiraiya, was a result of not having it cut since his granchild's departure to the outside world, due to her being his pseudo-stylist. Sure she wasn't great, but she was better than him. He always left it uneven and so after she left, he tried to cut his hair a couple of times, but that task seemed impossible, so he just let it grow. The beard was another story. He just didn't trust his granchild with pointy things near his face. The beard, however, served as a means to hide his whisker marks, which was a plus since he didn't want to stand out that much.

"For crying out look at my face! Does this look old too you! I'm not a delicate old man that's going to sit still and tell stories of the good old days! " 'Though I am extremely old, but they don't need to know that'. Taking a breather to recompose himself, he spoke again in a calm manner. "Look that little scene you guys witnessed of me talking all weird was my way of trying to cheer you guys up. The atmosphere was just so depressing and was stinking up the place. I was planning on acting normal and show my face after I joined, but I just got frustrated with the lack of seriousness you were showing."

"Hey kid I'm sorry if I offended, but in my defense what was I supposed to assume with a hooded man speaking in a raspy voice with a long beard that now appears to be even longer? And then you said some very wise words that only one with a lot of experience could say."

"I apologize for my rudeness, and as for the beard, I was secluded in an island for a very long time, so I didn't have the materials to shave with." 'But now that I think about it, I could've made a clone and have him shave me. Hell! I could've used him to cut my hair, or do other menial stuff! Damn! I'm really starting to lose it huh?'

"Well if you still intend to join, I'll gladly let you. I'm sure with you on board, Fairy Tail will have a bright, new generation. We'll take your help as the guild currently has only one s-class mage besides myself, who is a Wizard Saint . It might be only one, but let me assure you Gildarts is at least ten times any other s-class."

"It'll be an honor to accept enrollment in the Fairy Tail guild." Naruto vowed to the master to show his gratitude, and shortly after rose his head and continued speaking. "Let me assure you I'll do my best in helping the new generation know the true meaning of strength. That's a promise, and Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on his promises."

"My! What a respectful brat I just got myself! Okay, so where would you like your stamp and what color?"

Thinking about it for a second, the new member took of his brown robe, then his red toad sage coat, and finally his plain white shirt. The guild immediately went silent when the last layer came off. The silence wasn't a result of how many layers he had or how well chiseled his body was, no, it was the result of numerous injuries shown. Scars and burns covered most of his front side and what was visible on the back due to the hair covering most of it. What creeped them the most was the three scars crossed together in a manner that resembled an asterisk symbol where the heart is. 'What has this man gone through?' They all subconsciously thought.

"I want the Fairy Tail mark here", he pointed towards where everyone was still gazing at. "Oh! And please make it an intense red. I want the guild mark to symbolize that Fairy Tail is my new heart." The words finally registering in his mind, the master did as told and hesitated to ask about the injuries, but eventually his curiosity got the best of him.

The stamp was peculiar, and Naruto wondered how his dear Mavis got the idea of the stamp's image. It resembled a thin fairy spreading its legs as if preparing for flight, or doing a valet of sorts, with its wings fluttering together. Truly a peculiar stamp, yet beautiful in its own way. His musings ended when the masters old, hoarse voice was registered, immediately putting his clothes back on

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you to get that many scars?"

"These? I got these scars defending others through fighting. I'm usually an incredibly fast healer, but each scar represents the number of times I failed to protect them." Answered Naruto truthfully without second thought, it was true every scar was a result of fighting powerful beings, mainly the Otsutsuki clan. Every time he failed to protect someone who unfortunately was at the battle site, he healed all injuries except one to remind himself of their deaths and his lack of sufficient strength. The scars accumulated until he finished off those villains, the latest being the very same Otsutsuki clan. He hadn't gained any new scars in the last three centuries, and hopefully he won't in the future.

"I'm sure you have your own tales to tell and we'll be ready to listen to you when feel like sharing." Spoke the old man after noticing that speaking further would only make the new member uncomfortable.

"Thank you master, and I will. I just hope when I do you guys don't freak out. Anyways, do you know anywhere I could live in, or is there like a dorm for members? Also is there anyone that could explain to me the basics of the outside world, as I'm not that well known of how things operate here due to my seclusion?"

"Tch, what an annoying hermit. To answer your first question, we only have a female dorm as Gildarts destroyed the male one a couple of years ago. And for the second question, what do you need to know?"

"Pshh. The usual, you know like where's the town bakery and technological advancements? _who's the king? what's the currency? What's the date? year? Anything related to history?_ " Said a very embarrassed Naruto, muttering the rest. How could he not be embarrassed since he lived through all of the history of the present era, but had yet to acknowledge the outside world. Instead of wandering the world to solve the world's mysteries, he secluded himself from society and only came out to fight on few occasions since most of the times the opponents looked for him, not the other way around.

Noticing the blond's embarrassment, Makarov decided to ease up the blond by answering some of them on the spot and the rest in private. "There's a bakery that is very courteous with Fairy Tail members two blocks to the left. The lady running it is generous, so we in turn help her out every once in a while. She specializes in deserts by the way. As for technological advancement, I guess the machinery powered by magic is one of them. Things such as cars or weapons that already have a set amount of magic in them. I think they have items like a sword that gets covered in flames when you press a certain part. I'm not sure about other advancements in tech, but there has been in magic, but even I'm not that knowledgeable with today's magic. I could however inform you of some caster magic and holder magic, not so much on ancient spells. Some prominent examples of caster would be requip, where the caster is able to summon equipment, elemental magic, where the caster is able to use spells dealing with an element of nature such as wind, and disassemble magic, where the caster is able, as the name implies, to disassemble any object. Holder magic includes celestial spirits, where the caster can summon spirits to their aide, and card magic, which varies on its effects, though the constant is that cards must be used. As for ancient spells, I know a few from the section of lost magic, such as dragon slayer magic and arc of time, but I'm not sure how they work as I only heard of them. I'll tell you more if you'd like in private. _The date by the way is October 10 x773._ " Naruto analyzed the words just thrown at him, until he was frozen from the last sentence that was whispered to him.

'October 10 x773, huh? Would you look at that? It's my birthday! Wonder how old I am? Like age matters. All that matters is the accomplishments and friends that you make along the way.' Nodding in acceptance of his new master's words, Naruto stood in an uncommon silence thinking about where the time had gone by. Trying to get rid of that awkwardness, the old man tried to get a proper introduction from the blond.

"Now how bout you tell us a bit about yourself, and if you feel comfortable enough, could you tell us about your magic?"

"My magic?" Spoke the blond, breaking out of his stupor. "Well I'm not sure if you ever heard of teleportation magic, but I guess you get the gist of it as the ability is as the name implies. I also have a sort of magic where I'm able to summon thing."

"You mean like a requip?" Came the voice of the wrinkled old master.

"Yeah something like that. Anyways," the new guild member turned towards his new guild mates and vowed, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm in your care. So please take care of me." The guild members were left flabbergasted from the blond's actions. The blond then stood and continued speaking, this time more towards his new guild mates than just his new master. "As for who I am, I'm not really sure how to answer that as I lived most of my life in an island. I guess I'm very knowledgeable in survival skills and stuff about nature. I used to really like ramen when I was younger, not sure if I still do as it's been a while. As for a goal, I want to help the new generation in any way possible, prepare for a meeting with an old acquaintance almost 20 years from now, and, if possible, make Fairy Tail the number one guild of Fiore."

After the blond finished introducing himself, two individuals approached him. As they approached him, Naruto noticed that they were the two guild members that stood out from the rest when he entered the guild. They were the dark, blue haired man with a scruffy beard and the man sporting a pompadour.

"Hey there Naruto-san. Welcome to our guild, I'm Wakaba Mine, and this scrawny fellow with a pathetic excuse for a beard is Macao." The one who spoke, taking an occasional whiff at his cigar, was the man with the pompadour, trying to be as polite as possible even though moments ago he was all depressed along with the rest of the guild.

"Why you...! Ignore that idiot Naruto-san. Welcome to our guild, I'm Macao Conbolt. If you have any questions or issues feel free to come to me as I'm the smartest between us two." Spoke the other man, trying to one up his companion.

Ignoring the indignant shout Wakaba, Naruto spoke back in a very calm manner. "Thank you, and I might take you up on that offer. And Naruto is just fine, there's no need for formalities between us Macao-san, Wakaba-san. Or would that be sempai and not san? Hmm?"

Both sweat dropping at the irony in what the blond said, Wakaba tried to defuse the blond from having a mental breakdown. "Then just call us by our names too while we're at it."

"Okay. Do any of you know any place I can stay at?"

"I don't know any place that's renting right now? Wakaba you got anything?"

"Do I know any place? Hmm?" Questioned Wakaba taking a whiff at his cigar. "Not that I know of? Hey Reedus you know any place? You probably know something since you joined a few months ago."

The man in question was the teen the blond remembered to be drawing a dark image when he first entered the guil. He was currently coloring the sketch he made with black paint.

"Me? Well I know a few places, but that depends on your budget. How much money you got Naruto-san? By the way I'm Reedus Jonah, as you've been informed, I joined a few months ago, about four."

"Naruto's fine Reedus-san. As for a budget...don't have one? Not a single coin on me."

"Wait! Then how did you get here from an island?" Questioned a surprised Macao.

"Some people let me in there means of transportation in exchange of some small tasks. Though they hesitated, saying that they couldn't let an old man do work, didn't really understand them to be honest. So I ended up doing nothing too big, but I plan on paying them back when I get some income."

"Well I can't let you stay with me in a cramped apartment that I'm sharing with my girlfriend, and Wakaba is in the same situation. Reedus you got anything?" Inquired a very caring Macao.

"No. My landlord doesn't allow me to bring anyone over."

"Hey guys it's fine I'll just-" began Naruto only to be interrupted by master Makarov who had been silent for a while to allow the new guild mates to form a bond.

"I have a free room as of today if you want it. I'll just have to clean off a few things." Noticing that the guild went deathly silent again, Naruto decided it was time that he asked the question that had been on his mind since he entered the guil.

"Master, if you don't mind asking, what happened? What caused, what seems a very lively guild, to be so depressed?"

Sighing and thinking the blond had a right to learn about this since it would most likely lead to problems in the future, he answered truthfully. "You see one of our members, my son Ivan, thought it was a great idea to implant a lacrima into his very own son. Could you imagine that? This supposedly happened a few years back and I just found out today, so I had him excommunicated. I was planning on lending you his room, that is if you still want it after knowing who used to live there."

"Oh. Well that really explains why the mood was like a cemetery. As for the room, I'll gladly accept your offer. I'll make sure to move out immediately after I get sufficient funds."

"Don't worry about it. Just try to be careful with my grandson as I feel he'll become a bit moody because of what happened. He hasn't left his room all day which has me very worried. As for the guild, we're usually very lively, it's just that Ivan's betrayal really left a mark on us." Though the old man was trying to reassure the blond, anguish could be heard in his response, which was very understandable. Understanding that speaking more about the topic would resume the gloomy atmosphere, the blond thought that retiring himself to get some rest was the best solution as the guild needed time to heal from the wound of betrayal. Naruto himself went through the same situation, and he understood that betrayal was an ugly thing.

"Well I'm really exhausted from my travel so if you would be kind enough to lead me to the room you're willing to lend me, I'd gladly appreciate it."

"Huh? Well you would be tired from everything that happened, as you just got a new family, as that what we all are here in Fairy Tail. The room is in this building. Take that door by the bar, go straight in the hall, then take a left and go up the stairs. The room should be on the right two doors down. I still had to clean up some stuff, but I'll do it later then as I still want to spend some time drinking. So just move some stuff if they're in the way."

"Of course. Thank you again. Sorry for the intrusion. I'll take my leave then." Vowing as a form of gratitude to his master's kindness, the blond stood straight and walked away towards the designated door. While doing so, he waved without turning around and called out a good night with the whole guild acknowledging it by mumbling a good night back.

* * *

The hallway itself was eerily quiet and felt like any sound produced would be the last thing he heard. Contrary to guild that gave a depressed feeling, the hallway gave off an aura of death, as if at the end of the hall lurked the shinigami himself. Barely illuminated in the dark of the night by the lone window that was allowing a small amount of moonlight in, the blond was tempted to activate his lone sharingan to get better grasp of his surroundings. He, however, threw that idea out immediately as he had faced death plenty of times without those convenient eyes. And shinigami? Pshh. The only thing to fear is ghosts, or at least he thought so, as you can't hurt them. And he wasn't talking about those ghosts he faced at demon country while having to protect princess Shion in his _still genin_ days. To him those weren't ghosts, they were rock figures that could move because they were being possessed. No, ghosts were beings that could phase through anything once they were claimed by the shinigami and lived to haunt you. Those were ghosts, and he had yet to meet any fortunately in all his almost thousand years of living.

Anyways, as he kept walking down the hall he could hear the wood creaking, or was it only his imagination making him paranoid. 'Ahh!Where's that stupid light switch when you need it?! Come on Naruto stay calm. What kind of man gets scared witless because it's dark? Especially me, who lived out in the wilderness all alone.' Getting his act together, the new guild member continued to walk and he could now make out a distinctive sound. He could make out sniffles and the occasional small cry coming from the room that was before the one lent to him. Assuming that the sound came from the master's grandson and he needed space, the blond continued his pace and finally reached his destination. There stood the blond in front of the hard maple door that had a large fairy tail stamp engraved on it. Reaching for the gold colored handle, he heard a door knob rattling as it was twisted followed by a creaking sound to what he assumed was a door opening. Looking to his left he could see that the door he had passed was slightly open. He could also make out a figure, though what stood out most was his blood red eyes. 'Kid must've been crying a lot. Probably suffering too much from his dad's excommunication by his own grandpa.' Deciding that introducing himself was the best action as he didn't want any misunderstandings, he spoke calmly. "Hey there. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a new member as of today. I'll also be living here for-" That was as far as he got before the door slammed. 'Can't blame him. Betrayal takes some time to get over.' Finally opening the door, the last ninja stepped into the room, and searched for the light switch. Turning the switch by the wall on, the lights flickered for a moment before they settled. The room seemed a bit worn out, which made Naruto think that it's last owner, Ivan, didn't care much about materials or wasn't a tee bit materialistic. There was a worn out twin sized bed located in the center of room, with a cabinet on each side, with a night lamp on top of the one closest to the door and a few picture frames. Oh how he longed to sleep on a bed. How long had it been since he had slept on one. Grabbing one of the pictures, he noticed that the old man was in it along with two others, who he assumed were Ivan and his son. The old man seemed the same with a few exceptions being he had a bit more hair, so it had to be taken quite some time ago. Ivan appeared as a tall black haired man with tanned skin and was wearing a serious face that gave of that feeling that he didn't want to take the photo. The other figure was appeared to be five year old blond boy that had a weird thunderbolt mark on his right eye and was smiling like there was no tomorrow, obviously not aware of what his father was thinking. Putting down the frame as he shouldn't be poking his nose into others business, he took another look at the room. There was an empty desk opposite of the bed and a window that was currently being covered by dark red drapes that had dust all over them, most likely from not being opened by the previous owner. Deciding that he wanted to see what kind of view the window gave, the blond spread open the drapes, causing dust and other particles to be released into the air. Coughing due to the dust, the blond opened the window that resembled a rectangle with an arc on top in shape, and grasped the scenery that laid before him. The full moon was shining like never before on Magnolia Town. Hell, Naruto himself found the scene indescribable and was captivated by it. The beauty that the clear night gave the buildings all over town. The silence that was prolonged gave a sense of serenity and peacefulness that could only be found in the deeper sections of nature. He was tempted to activate his sharingan to forever engrave the scene in his mind, but went against it as he doubted he'd ever forget it.

Sitting on his bed while leaving the window open to allow the breeze to enter and freshen up the place, the blond decided that it was now about a good time as any to get to work. Summoning up a shadow without any hand seals as he had mastered about every technique in his arsenal, he ordered it get to work. Taking out a sharpened kunai, the clone got to fixing the original up who was in deep thoughts. 'Best birthday I had in a while. New family huh?'

* * *

The next morning came all too fast for the blond's liking. He had spent a good deal trying to cut his hair and beard that he barely slept six hours, to the typical ten he use to get at the island. Entering the guild that seemed more livelier than the day before with Reedus, if he recalled correctly, was painting an image of a clear sky, and some other members were laughing to their hearts content, more noticeable were Macao's and Wakaba's laughs while patting each other's back in what seemed a painful manner if their winces were any indication. He also noticed that as soon as he entered the whole guild went deadly silent. All eyes were in him as if questioning who he was. Thinking that they had already forgotten that he was the new member, he decided that reintroducing himself would be the best course of action.

"Uh good morning guys. It's me Naruto Uzumaki. You know the new-" that was as far as he got before the whole guild went berserk.

"Naruto?!" They all questioned with their eyes bulging out. The master even went as far as to do a spit take with the beer he was sipping on. Who could blame them for mistaking the man who stood in front of them as a stranger. Naruto looked totally different from yesterday. Gone was his brown robe that now let the other members see his red sage coat and plain white shirt. Gone was his long hair that used to reach his hips, replaced by short, spiky blond hair. Gone was his all too long beard, and in its place was a black face mask that covered him from his neck to the bridge of his nose. Naruto himself felt proud of his new look, and felt that it would've also made Kakashi-sensei proud. Not only was he copying him by having his headband cover his left eye, but now he was also wearing a mask. All he needed to complete the 'Kakashi' look, was a book and maybe that aura of coolness that Guy-sensei complained a lot about.

"Yeah guys it me! The new and improved Naruto Uzumaki! How do you like the new look? It took me all night to get rid of the beard and to cut my hair, but it was all worth it."

"Well I'll be! Naruto you sly dog! You were hiding back all those looks you got. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to get any girl you like... Wait! Go put all that stuff back on your face! I don't want my girl leaving me!" Whistled Macao after recognizing the blond's voice, and eventually panicking that the blond's looks would affect his personal life.

"Heh! Don't worry Macao, she won't be leaving you because Naruto here is way better looking than you. No! She'll be leaving you because of your ugly ass!"

"Why you-!"

"Woah guys calm down. I'm not gonna go chasing after any of them. In fact I won't be going after any woman." Spoke Naruto, trying to tranquilize the situation.

"What! Don't tell us you swing the other way. Look we're okay being friends here, but just friends. Right Wakaba?"

"Hey who are we to judge? Everyone has their own tastes, I just hope you don't get the wrong idea when we act all chummy with you." Responded Wakaba to Macao's question, taking an occasional whiff at his cigar.

"Swing that way?... Wait! NO! No way! I'm just saying that I'm putting all my effort into the kids."

The moment those words left his mouth, Naruto knew he was going to be misunderstood, so he did the only thing that made sense at the moment. He took his right hand, and slapped his face for the stupidity of his word choice. The guild went agape with his words, with several members accidentally dropping their mugs of beer and Wakaba himself dropping his cigar. The drop of the cigar and mugs left a resounding thud with how quiet the guild went. All of them with the same horrified face and mouths wide open, until the shout finally came from a random member.

"PEDOPHILE! There's a pedophile in the guild! Master how could you let HIM join!"

And soon followed the outcries from the rest. The uproar would be enough to turn anyone deaf, even as far as to leave them blind, as impossible as it seemed. Finally having enough of the situation he brought himself into, Naruto attempted to clear out the misunderstanding. "HEY GUYS! COULD YOU LET ME DEFUSE THIS?!" Gaining everyone's attention on the infamous new member, he cleared his throat and continued speaking. "Look guys what I was trying to say was that I'm gonna stay celibate and focus on preparing the young to the best of my abilities. I'm not into men, and not especially not children. I'm into women, but I'm not looking into having any type of relationship with them. I was already in one a while ago, but she's dead and I'm over it. I think of everyone as family, and family is all I need. Family is everything you have in life, so please don't misunderstand."

"Well sonny, I'd like to apologize on behalf of the guild, but you have to understand why interpreted the words you said as we did." Came the lone voice of the cheery old man, who was ashamed that he was doubting the newly admitted member.

"Yeah us to. The words you were saying were really misleading you know." Were the replies of Macao and Wakaba, who were then followed by the others

"Again I apologize for causing this misunderstanding. So can leave this all behind? Are we alright?"

A resounding "Yeah" was his response, and no sooner than that, everything went crazy. The lively atmosphere was back, and if possible even stronger than before, with beer flying all over the place, the occasional flying chair, and of course all the laughing. Moments later, the master was standing over the counter, though that didn't help in getting the guilds attention, so he resorted in using his giant magic. It was of no surprise when the whole guild was scared shitless when they're attention was drawn to what they thought was a giant monster in the middle of the guild. Immediately shrinking back to normal as he didn't want to get attacked by his stupid brats thinking that a monster invaded the guild, he began to speak as he finally got their attention.

"Okay now that I got the attention of you brats," he paused and brought his mug up in the air, "I propose a toast for our new member. Naruto, here at Fairy Tail we consider each of us as family, and we hope that you do the same as we continue in this never ending quest of search of life's mysteries. Do fairies exists? Do they have tails? Those are some of the mysteries that we might never solve, but so what, as we'll be solving other mysteries along the way. So here's to Naruto. Let his adventure bear fruits and give him that happiness he's seeking for."

No sooner did the master finish those words a loud cheers resulted, with everyone chugging down their beer, even the blond himself who was accustomed to drinking. The atmosphere was about to go an all time high when the guilds front doors opened. There at the entrance stood a tan skinned seven year old girl with large, brown eyes and short, about shoulder length long, brown hair. The girl was dressed in a red sleeveless shirt, a pink lavender skirt, red shoes, and a yellow sash that went from her right shoulder to her waist on the left side. By her side was a petite white dog that was currently sitting down like a well trained pet.

Upon noticing the new arrival, Macao spoke cheerfully. "Oh? Hey it's Cana! How are you Cana-" Not a second later after he spoke her name, the blond was all on Cana, kneeling and had stars for eyes, all the while holding her hands.

"So you're little Cana! You're so cute! Don't worry big brother Naruto will protect you from everyone!"

* * *

Off to the side Macao and Wakaba were currently conversing quietly with each other about the blond.

"Yo Wakaba! You sure he ain't a pedo."

"He said it himself didn't he? We better be careful though, as little Cana over there might become a looker in the future and he might have her wrapped around his finger by then."

"You got that right. We ain't letting him take all the prey...wait that sounds wrong. What we mean is we'll protect Cana from him."

"Like hell we're letting him do whatever he wants." Responded back Wakaba, and high fived Macao.

* * *

Back with Cana, who was a bit freaked out by the stranger who was all up in her space.

"Hey mister Naruto. Thanks for the offer but I'm okay. Could you let go of me, I want to go get some juice."

"Juice? Juice!" And another Naruto puffed out of nowhere, and left and returned immediately with orange juice, all the while the original was still holding Cana's hands, who was surprised at there being more 'mister Naruto's'. The clone handed her the orange juice to which she grabbed without thinking, still dazed by what she was seeing. The clone then puffed out of existence, making Cana snap out of her daze, along with other guild members.

'So he can create solid clones of himself? And effortlessly? That seems like a very useful magic. How strong is he?' Thought the short, old master.

"You can make more 'mister Naruto's'?" Inquired the small girl in a cute, sweet voice. Naruto himself was tempted to hug the life out of her when she spoke, but simply settled to nodding enthusiastically.

"Not only can I make more 'mister Naruto's', but I can also do this..." No sooner he said those words, he took out a kunai with a weird label on the handle out of nowhere and quickly threw it to the attentive master. Though he was watching, the master had yet to act to the thrown projectile as it was going way too fast. The whole guild was surprised when they noticed the blond had sent a sharp object to their master and were about to berate him for it when he vanished from being next to Cana, to reappearing in front of the master holding the kunai an inch away from the old masters right eye. Before anyone could express what they felt, the blond threw the kunai to the spot he was on his knees moments ago and appeared back to his original spot, with one hand holding the kunai stuck on the wooden floor and the other holding the surprised little girl's hands.

"Awesome! So you can make more 'mister Naruto's' and you're really fast!" Cana excitedly spoke, now posing the same star in her eyes that Naruto had moments ago when first meeting her.

"I know right! Naruto Uzumaki is the greatest and awesom-est man there is. And he'll be helping you become the awesom-est cutest girl ever." Standing up the blond decided to act more serious, or at least as someone older. "It's great to make your acquaintance Cana...

"Cana Alberona!" Came the cheerful response from the seven year old.

"Right, Cana Alberona. But I must question why a cute girl like you is in such an inappropriate place, that is Fairy Tail."

"Oh! That's because I'm a member. I joined about four months ago." Cana then lifted up her red sleeveless shirt by a little to show of her black guild stamp on her lower left abdomen.

"You're a member? Don't see why a cute girl like you would join this dump." A shout of "hey!" was heard from the master and some guildmates, but he ignored it and continued. "Do you have like a family member in the guild or something?"

"..." The girl immediately went silent and displayed a sad look on her face while looking down at the floor. Noticing her crestfallen state after mentioning family members, he had an idea of why she was in that state. Looking around to find the other members shaking their heads, he finally understood the situation.

"Hey there Cana sorry about that. It was my fault for running this stupid mouth of mine. I'll just-"

"NO!" Interrupted Cana, very loudly, surprising everyone that such a small girl could have such a booming voice.

"Huh? What? Did I say something wro-" started Naruto to only be interrupted again by the little girl.

"No." She started softly, and finally looked up, tears falling down her large, brown eyes. "I'm over my mommy being gone for a year. It's because of her that I was able to meet everyone here and you 'mister Naruto'."

Kneeling down to be at her eye level, the blond brought the crying brunette to his chest and hugged her, rocking her back and forth to calm her. "Shh. I know that it's hard to get over someone once they're gone. It's okay to let the birds of sorrow to fly over your head, just don't let them nest. Your mother left you with the greatest lesson you could ever learn. The value of life. So make sure you make her proud by continuing to learn. Everything in the end will be okay, if it's not okay, then it's not the end." The scene itself was beautiful, and would've been magical if it wasn't for someone sneering.

"Why's the kid crying? She should just grow up and learn that everyone's going to leave at one point." Came the voice of the newcomer. There sitting by the corner of the was a tall twelve year old boy with messy blond hair and a lightning bolt scar on his right eye. He resembled the boy in the picture he saw last night, so he assumed he was the master's grandson. He was dressed in a dark khaki colored shirt that was over a black long sleeve and was listening to classic rock-n-roll if the music heard from his large black magic headphones was anything to give it away.

Deciding that saying he was crying the same if not more last night, would only rile him up and cause the issue to get worse, the last ninja decided that speaking words of wisdom would be the best course of action. "Hey kid don't make fun of other people crying. We all cry at times, even heaven. Tears are our holy water and heal the deepest of wounds. Tears are water filled with emotion, and flowers, trees, and fruits can't grow without it. Sunlight, however, is needed to make those seeds bare fruit." The blond boy stood quiet for a while before getting up and leaving for his room, not uttering a single word to anyone. Looking down at the girl he was still holding and had finally eased up on her crying, the blond got up and carried the girl over by the bar. He sat down on a stool and sat the girl, that was wiping away her tears, on his lap. Deciding that he should ease her mood, he started to make small talk.

"You want anything Cana?"

"Orange juice." She spoke meekly, trying to calm down her breathing.

"Okay." He ordered the juice for her and an iced tea for himself. Moments later, the waiter returned with their drinks, and Naruto handed her the juice. "Here you go. You sure do like orange juice, don't cha?"

"Yeah, my mother always gave me that to go along with lunch and breakfast ." She spoke wistfully, as if reminiscing those times. Seeing her sad smile and that far off look, Naruto resolved to help her heal those open wounds.

"You know Cana, your mother's not gone."

Surprised by the blond's words, she replied a bit hopeful. "She's not?"

"No as long as you remember her by, she'll never be gone. She'll always be right here." When he was finished speaking, he pointed to her chest, right at the left side.

"In my heart?" She sounded honestly surprised, and Naruto couldn't help but hug her, as it also served as a means of support.

"Yeah, in your heart. That's the one body part that will allow you to never forget her."

"Okay Naruto-nii." Those words almost caused him to dropped her from his lap as he was tempted to get up and celebrate. Calming down a bit, he engulfed her in a hug and thought, 'Naruto-nii? I like the sound of that!'

* * *

Two weeks had gone by pretty fast in Naruto's opinion. So far he had gone in about three small jobs that were in the town, all on his own. The money he had earned wasn't suffice to allow him a down payment in any place that rented, so he still lived at the guild with the master and his grandson. Speaking of that boy, Naruto finally got the details of who he was via Macao. The boy's name was Laxus Dreyar, twelve year old grandson of master Makarov. Supposedly before his father got excommunicated for implementing a lacrima into him when he was around six, he was a very nice and gentle boy. Nowadays, though, he was extremely moody and for some reason he avoided the older blond. He also had yet to meet any ladies that were members of the guild. He'd met Cana, but he didn't consider her a lady. He also formed a trio with Macao and Wakaba, and were called the three musketeers, though for some reason they were always snickering specially when he mentioned he had yet to meet any female member, unaware that the two around him were to blame. On the bright side, he had good relationship with little Cana, always going with her when she walked her dog, which he learned was named Brian, and when she was leaving to the guilds female dormitory. She also talked a lot about meeting the famous Gildarts again and telling him something very important, to which she wouldn't explain further, always motioning to the zipped lips, while smiling away.

* * *

A couple months passed and it was now early x774. The weather was chilly, as it was warming up as the spring days continued. It seemed like it never snowed in Magnolia Town as the blond had yet to see snow in his stay there. And just like the weather was continuing to warm up the town, the younger blond, Laxus, was warming up to Naruto. He still had that rebellious phase, but was no longer avoiding him. Naruto himself would say that Laxus accepted him as a member, maybe not so much as a friend, as that would be stretching it. They were on those terms since he moved out to a one bedroom apartment that wasn't too far off of Fairy Hills, the female dorms for Fairy Tail members, as he wanted to be as close as possible to his sweet little Cana. It wasn't that the younger blond was grateful that the older blond moved, no their relationship was on decent terms when he left because the older blond made sure that Laxus in a good condition by the time he left the borrowed room. He made sure that Laxus wouldn't be alone anymore by getting him friends, without the younger boy even noticing. He asked the three new members that had just joined at the time to try to get along with Laxus. If he recalled correctly, the ten year old boy with green hair was named Freed, while the ten year old girl was named Evergreen. The last one was a peculiar twelve year old boy that wore a knight helmet that he rarely took off, and was named Bickslow. He had told them stories of how Laxus was incredibly strong and _cool_ , and the kids went immediately of to find the boy who was being spoken of. Laxus himself was annoyed with the new members, but no one could argue that he was always in a better mood when they were around. When the lightning mage found out that Naruto had told his friends all those stories of him being _cool_ , which was about two weeks ago, he immediately confronted him about and questioned his motives. The blond just answered: "I just believe the world is a big family and we need to help each other", and walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

His relationship with everyone else he had met so far had also prospered, mainly with Cana, who occasionally slept over at his new apartment, and Macao and Wakaba, the self proclaimed three musketeers. He had yet to meet any ladies aside from Cana and Evergreen, who he didn't consider as ladies. Macao and Wakaba just waved it off, saying that they probably just quit because there were some rumors going around about a perverted member that had joined some months ago, though Naruto had a hard time trying to figure out who it was. The three of them would always go together on a mission that was out of town, and were almost inseparable in town, except when Naruto went on missions in town with Cana to help her gain experience. In the guild, it was another story as they often fooled around, though no one would refuse that Naruto was the most calmest of the three. Known as the three stooges, they would often end up arguing about who was who, though either way they were all losers, no matter who was Moe, Larry, or Curly.

Today on this chilly morning in Magnolia Town, we find the three stooges seated on a table arguing once again with Cana off to the side drinking her fourth cup of orange juice, patiently waiting for the argument to end. The guild itself seemed much livelier compared to other days, as they were all singing around all drunk about it with their beer mugs all half full due to spilling it when they were swinging from side to side.

"I'm telling you that women prefer a man with facial hair!"

"And I'm telling you they don't! They prefer a man with stylish hair. Ain't that right Naruto?"

"I've already told you guys that I don't care what women prefer. But in any case, they prefer a man who treats them right, not a man who looks nice." Came the savvy voice of the masked blond, who was currently reading a small history book. He had made it a habit to read about the new era's history and advancements to keep up with the new times.

"Can you believe this guy Wakaba? Going on that women actually care about that stuff. Pathetic!"

"Yeah! Talking as if women look further than what's the outside. If that was the case, any old man that's not perverted could make any woman fall for him."

"Look guys! I'm just saying that women are creatures that we'll never be to understand as they put more thought into-" and that was as far as the masked cyclops got before he was interrupted by a very loud bell-like-siren that sounded all over town, followed by an announcement of the Gildarts Shift turning active and everyone was to go their designated places. Walking outside, along with the rest of the guild, who was at the moment eccentric that their strongest member was returning from a 10-year quest/mission, the masked blond witnessed one of the strangest things he had ever seen in his life, and that was considering the bushy eyebrows green spandex duo. The town itself rose a couple of meters and split to leave a path that lead directly to the guild. Sweat dropping at the over dramatic actions needed to receive the guild's ace, the blond decided to ask the question that was bugging him so much.

"Is this really necessary? You know, disrupting the whole city's daily routine and making a path?"

The other members immediately looked at him as if he was crazy.

""Over the top? For Gildarts? Look here, if we didn't do this, the whole city would be destroyed by Gildarts obliviousness. That man once destroyed his home and he never noticed it until he had to leave for a mission. Why do you think we're waiting outside the guild? It's because we don't want him to destroy it." Spoke the master with a tone that said he was hoping that Gildarts would just follow the path and not cause any more problems.

Naruto himself just couldn't imagine how the ace would look or act, but he assumed he was very likable as everyone was getting jittery just by hearing he was in town. How could someone be so oblivious? He, himself, was oblivious to many things when he was younger, as in with Hinata and her feelings, which he cleared out after the war. But never to the extent of causing major mayhem. Of on a distance he could make a figure that had his features hidden by the bright sun that acted as a background. He looked back to the members until his eye laid on Cana. A Cana that was visibly shaking and having difficulties breathing if her irregular breathing was anything to judge by. Seeing her like that, the masked blond approached her and put his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. Cana immediately eased up, but was still breathing a bit faster than she normally did. Looking back to the path that the ace was taking, he noticed that the man had almost arrived. Taking in his features, he noticed that he was a very tall, built man with broad shoulders, and appeared to be around 35. He was wearing a black worn out high collared cloak with metal shoulder plates, without a shirt, and black pants that were tucked in his boots. His long orange hair was slicked back to his shoulders, while his face adorned a scruffy full beard, with a few hairs sticking out of his jawline. On his bare chest he had a black guild stamp, beside two scars. Finally, there stood the ace of Fairy Tail, Gildarts Clive, in front of the members, displaying a goofy smile that reminded Naruto of his younger self.

* * *

Footnotes:

1\. Are you the master?

2\. You're strong and powerful. I wish to join (the guild).

3\. It seems you don't understand me. You have a strong magic potential (or you have strong magic). I'm Naruto Uzumaki.

4\. I wish to join (the guild).

5\. I want to protect the king.

6\. I don't mean that king. I meant the new generation is the king. (Refers to the use of king in the Naruto anime)

7\. I'm strong and age doesn't matter.

By the way, if you don't know who was being referenced, it was Yoda


	4. Ch 4: Moving Forward

Author Note:

This chapter took a lot longer than expected, but that was due to a 10 page paper I had to complete. I also had to do a bit of research on some of the references I wanted to make, as I have really bad memory, so I couldn't recall how they went. Also for some of you concerned on whether the story will have any romance, it will, and a lot, just wait for a few more chapters for when the characters have developed enough, most likely around the x784 stage.

Anyways:

"quotes are for speech"

'apostophres are for inner thoughts'

 _Italics are for flashbacks or sarcasm or emphasis_

 **Bold is for demons**

Just a reminder, I don't own Naruto and/or Fairy Tail, or this story would've been published by now.

And without a further ado, ENJOY!

* * *

"I'm telling you, _Zorro_ , you've got to let loose. We only have one life, so we have to live it to the fullest. Here have a beer."

"For the last time, the name's Uzumaki. Naruto Uzumaki. Not _Zorro_ , just because of the mask. Either way the mask covers his eyes, while mine covers my mouth. Second of all, there's no point in hurrying through life." Came the irritated voice of a certain blond, masked cyclops, tired of his companion's lack of politeness that was currently chugging three mugs at the same time, while there was a stack of bottles over on his side of the bar. The blond's companion was no other than the tall oblivious ace of Fairy Tail, Gildarts Clive. They were both making small talk as the ace wanted to get to know the new member, and vice-versa.

"Every man to his own, I guess. But anyways, I get the feeling that you have the charm for a ladies man. That's why you're _Zorro."_

"I have yet to meet any in this guild, so I wouldn't know, nor do I care."

"But what about when you walk around town or go on missions. Don't you see any of them, or the looks they probably give you?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't really pay attention as I'm usually reading. But I doubt that I get looked at or attract any attention."

"Man you must be the most oblivious person in the world, or at least the guild." Stated the giant man, following with a boisterous laugh, not noticing the irony of what he just said.

" _I'm sure I am."_ Came the blond's response, filled with sarcasm. "I might as well serve a small pirate crew, led by an idiot who can't swim, and the travel the sea in a ship called the Thousand Sunny, if I'm the most oblivious person in the world." (1)

"Hey now that's a great idea. Maybe then, you'll realize _Zorro_ actually fits you well."

A loud smack echoed through the quiet guild that were lost in how fast those two conversing got along. The blond just couldn't believe how oblivious a guy could be, which was the reason he had put the book on spells he was reading, while talking, away and smacked himself on the face. How had he gotten himself in this situation, he continuously asked. It all started an hour ago, the same time he first got a good look on Gildarts.

 _"GILDARTS!" Came the ecstatic shout from the whole guild, except a certain blond who was trying to understand the situation and the cowering almost eight year old brunette behind him._

 _"Honey I'm home!" Was the response of the towering man who still had his goofy smile intact. His eyes immediately caught sight of one eyed masked blond that he had never seen before at the guild, unless he was..._

 _"Laxus?! Is that really you? Last time I saw, which was about six months ago, you were about ye high," which he emphasizes by putting a handy a bit above his waist , about five feet, "and now you're all the way up here," and again he emphasized it by his shoulders, about six feet. "Man what did they feed you guys with? And what happened to your left eye? Wait! What happened to your scar on the right eye?"_

 _"Are you done yet?" Came the frustrated voice of the masked blond, who had miraculously waited patiently for the giant to finish rambling. Really, how could someone lack so much common sense? But then a again, Fairy Tail wasn't the sharpest out of the bunch. "Look here bub, I'm not Laxus. The name's-"_

 _"He's the Red Flash! The sole man that is the leading cause of global warming through his hot skills. The man so cool that he caused hell to freeze over. A man so fast he delivered tomorrow's newspapers, yesterday. (2) A man that has muscles on his muscles on those muscles. He's so tough, I think I saw him eat a bowl of nails for breakfast." Interrupted Macao, who was taking a breather from_ introducing _the blond, worse eye was twitching from how preposterous Macao was making him seem._

 _"That doesn't sound too bad." Came a rather confused Gildarts reply._

 _"Oh yeah! He ate them without any milk! (3)" The whole guild facefaulted from the hearing that and swing Gildarts pale at what he considered an incredible feat. " He's also the last member of the famous Three Musketeers! Right Wakaba! All for one..."_

 _"And one for all!" Came Wakaba's voice from the background._

 _"Look guy, I can introduce myself. No need in exaggerating, though I think I could pull most of them. So anyways, the name's Naruto Uzumaki, pleasure to meet you." The blond stook out his hand for a handshake, to which Gildarts gladly accepted, still a little wary of the blond who had cereal without milk. Upon shaking each other's hands, he noticed that unlike when he shook hands with others, the blond didn't wince, but in fact, he was actually feeling a pinch in the shake._

 _"That's quite the grip you got there! I'm Gildarts Clive by the way."_

 _"I apologize for that Gildarts-san. I probably gripped it too hard because of some frustration I still had." Apologized the blond, who was giving quite the stare to Macao, who looked away, whistling as if nothing happened._

 _"San?! What the hell are you talking about?! In this guild, we're all family, so Gildarts would be suffice."_

 _"Understood Gildarts-sa... Gildarts."_

 _"Alrighty! Now that, that's out the way how bout we go and get boozed? It's been a while since I got drunk in the guild." The guild master immediately paled when he heard Gildarts statement, already preparing the plans for the guilds reconstruction in his mind._

 _"I don't really drink, but I'll gladly accompany you." Accepted the blond, already taking out his book on more modernized spells._

 _"Suit yourself. That just means more for me."_

 _Walking along with everyone back into the guild, where the chaos immediately restarted, the blond noticed that Cana had disappeared. He made a note to ask her about that later, and why she was so quiet when Gildarts first arrived, even going as far as to shaking. Hopefully it wasn't anything too troubling._

"Hey, now that I think about it, how come you're reading?"

"I've been reading while conversing with you and you just notice this?"

"Well to be fair, there's so much to you visually that stands out that it's dull to talk about books."

"I'm sure that I don't stand out like you say, Gildarts. As for reading, why wouldn't I read? Knowledge is power, as they say."

"Ha-ha! Right you are. So you must be super smart then, huh?"

"Wise is the man that knows he's a fool, foolish is the man who thinks he's wise."

"Wow! Would you look at that? You're quite the philosopher. So what the hell is a man like you doing around chumps like us? No offense to you guys."

"None taken. But you do know you're the stupidest one out of the bunch, right?" Came Macao's reply after being left out, like the rest of the guild, from most of the conversation.

"There you see. We're a bunch of idiots with the stupidest being...Hey! Why you little piece of...!" The words spoken by Macao finally caught up to Gildarts, causing him to mumble at the end.

"I want to prepare the next generation for the struggles that will await them. I believe that Fairy Tail is the proper path for them to follow as we heavily focus on our bonds as family. And you know how the aging goes, family is everything."

"Wow you really are deep. Maybe I should start walking around while reading?" This image was all that was needed to cause the whole guild to pale. Give an oblivious man something else to distract him would surely end with Fiore being flipped upside down

"Not to discourage you or be an ass, but if a man like you would do that, it's most likely that you'll turn Fiore, which means flower, into a Bellsprout.(4)" Spoke an emotionless blond, flipping through another page of his spell book.

"Bellsprout?"

"You know, it's like a walking flower that makes you wonder if you're on drugs. The main body is shaped like a yellow bell Ned it walks by using roots as feet. Read about it-"

"They're actually real?!" Came the shout of the entire guild, freaked out that such creatures existed.

"What! No! I've read about them in a manga called Hokey Pokey-mon, also commonly known as Pokemonsters."

"WHAT!"

* * *

The day was slowly coming at an end. Shops were preparing to close with the sun setting in the background. Kids were running around back home before it got too dark and they would be forced to face a horrible fate called being grounded, sometimes even facing a dinner without any deserts following after or timeouts. That's just the way parents show they care however. That love that a certain blond always desired, but never had the opportunity to feel, though he did meet his parents, just not alive. He was never a sour sport about that, and this was the last thing he needs to be thinking about as his main priority was Cana. It was really strange how she had acted upon the arrival of who he assumed was everyone's favorite mage in Fairy Tail. A man who everyone idolized and wanted to be around of, yet she distanced herself and didn't act all silly like she always does.

Standing in front of Cana's door at the Fairy Hill dormitory, he noticed the pictures that adorned it. The brown maple door was filled with pictures ranging from her in a cute yellow dress, others with her in her usual attire while hugging her small white puppy named Brian, and some of them were her drawings the whole guild, by means of colors that reminded you that although she was somewhat mature for her age, she was still a kid. There was one picture in which there stood a yellow covered man with a red shirt, holding a little girl's hand, with a bright colored sun that had traces of yellow and red and a smiley face right on the center. Smiling, the blond knocked on the door and waited for the girl to answer. He could hear the girl rushing around, probably trying to clean some things for whoever was visiting her, and the occasional "coming". After a minute, the door slowly opened, and for some reason Naruto was getting a vibe that he wasn't going to like what he saw. And he stood correct when he finally saw Cana after the door was fully open. Her eyes were red, her nose was running a bit, and her breathing was irregular. He assumed she had been crying for hours, and so he lunged forward and engulfed her in a hug. The girl was initially startled, surprise was written all over her exhausted face, but then the waterworks came loose. Rocking her back and forth while rubbing her and the occasional shush, the blond carried her and sat with her in silence for about five minutes. Finally calming down, Cana spoke, her voice still a bit shaky.

"Umm, sorry about that. It's, umm, allergy season you know, and, well, my allergies started up."

"Allergies?" The voice by which he spoke said he wasn't buying it, but the girl obviously didn't catch it.

"Umm, Yeah! I'm allergic to umm ... err, oxygen?"

"Oxygen, huh? Must be pretty hard to handle that? What do you take as medication?"

"Medications? Oh yeah! I drink lots of orange juice, if I don't, my eyes get red and I start, umm sneezing?"

Hugging even tighter, Naruto spoke in a soft voice. "I already told you it's okay to cry. I told you that tears is holy water that heal the deepest of wounds and that we all cry at times, even heaven does. So don't lie about crying. What happened by the way?"

"I umm, err, umm," noticing the girl stumbling through words, the blond decided to ease up the girl.

"It's fine Cana. I'll listen to what you have to say when you're ready to open up. I'm sure that you'll get through with whatever is making you feel like this. Okay?" Cana remained quiet, still going over the words, allowing the blond to continue. "When you're hurt to look back or afraid to look forward, look to the side and I'll be there." He sat there on the bed rocking back and forth in a peaceful silence until she fell asleep. Making sure that the girl was sound asleep and would be alright, he laid her on the soft bed. Tucking her in bed with her big fluffy yellow blanket, the blond kissed her forehead, and left closing the door slowly and giving a whispered good night.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the closest train station to Magnolia Town, which was a few towns over.

"Stupid old man! Saying he never heard of the great Ur or the powerful ice shell spell! _Goddamit!"_ Came the irritated shout of an eight year old boy that gripped his dark blue hair out of frustration. He was dressed in a white coat with orange fur on the hood, with a plain dark blue shirt under it, along with purple-blue pants and brown shoes. Carrying on his back was a blue backpack with a yellow sleeping bag on top of it, while on his shoulders was the guilt of causing his master's, Ur Milkovich, death. He had the _brilliant_ idea of encountering the notorious demon Deliora that had decimated his home village and killed countless of powerful mages, at the age of eight with barely any, not even a year of, experience in ice magic. He had abandoned his master and fellow disciple when news of Deliora's whereabouts reached him by accident. That, however, led to Ur stepping up to protect him and end the trail of destruction and devastation the demon was leaving. The demons tracks were frozen, literally as she turned herself into an almost indestructible ice shell that imprisoned it, thus also ending her tracks on the path called life. That person who he considered a second mother, always bragged about the western side having mage's even more powerful than herself. And so here he was traveling the western side in search of any mages or guilds that could give him an answer on what could be done with Ur's situation. He had yet to hear from any positive feedback from the more than fifteen guilds he had visited in the month after Ur's sacrifice. All of them said that they had never heard of such a spell, some of them even claiming they never heard of _the Ur_.

And so now here he was walking out of the train station with a vibe that was telling people to get out of his way and not waste his time. Looking up to the intense sunset, his face made an even more frustrated expression, though he felt his mind at a state of peace from just gazing at it. It felt as if a journey was about to end, but a new one was at the dawn of starting. Remembering that he had to hurry before it got too dark, he set off to go to his new destination, one of Fiore's best known guild's that was located a couple of towns over from the station. If he hurried, he would arrive at Magnolia Town in the morning, obviously sleeping in the open, using his sleeping bag and the basic survival skills he learned by being under Ur's wing and the month of traveling by himself.

"Let's see what this place has in store for me. Hopefully they know something." The dark blue haired eight year was standing in front of a giant, round red door of a so called place 'Fairy Tail', if the flag and sign were anything to go by. The guild itself seemed pretty old, which most likely meant that the people inside were either lazy, old, or both. That thought itself cause him to sigh, already thinking the guild didn't inhabit powerful mages. Taking a breather so he wouldn't appear gloomy, he opened the sturdy doors, struggling a bit. The sight he found was the opposite of his expectations. The guild was vibrant, full of energy and enthusiasm, with men laughing boisterously, hitting each other's backs, and the occasional object thrown, be it a stool, chair, mug, and ... Was that a table? Looking around he saw that the guild was made up of mostly men in their twenties. The oldest member appeared to be a short old man with wrinkles on his wrinkles, that he was tempted to call an elf or dwarf, chugging a barrel of, what he assumed, beer that was twice his size... and was that a blond pirate talking, while reading, with a girl his age, chugging juice? Things were already looking interesting, but first thing first, he had to know what could be done about his master. 'Now who's the strongest in the guild? That guy should be the master. It can't be that old man, he's just too...old. He's probably only in the guild for the beer. It might be that guy yelling like an idiot with his smoking buddy-' The boy's musings were cut short by a teenager in a black witch hat, holding what seemed like a painting of the town with a red background.

"Hey kid, what are you doing in a place like this? Don't tell me your parents brought a complaint about how we completed the mission."

"Huh? What? ...NO! I don't have any parents, and I'm just looking for the master of this place." Came the undignified shout of the boy, who had a solemn look at the mention of his parents, but quickly got rid of it since now wasn't the time for flashbacks.

"Oh? Oh! You came to talk with the master? Why didn't you just say that? Let me lead you to him, the name's Reedus by the way."

"Gray Fullbuster." That was all the boy said before going quiet. Reedus took that as the que to take him to the master and so he did. The teen was leading him straight towards the bar where the old man was merrily chugging another barrel of beer. 'It can't be?... Can it? _This_ geezer? No, maybe this is one of his illusions so enemies don't spot him when he's-' Gray's musings were again interrupted by the sound of a wheezy, merry voice.

"Might I ask why you're here lad? And why you're naked? I'm the Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar, by the way." Looking up he noticed that the one who spoke was the old geezer. Remembering what the man said, he looked down and noticed that indeed he was naked, the only thing he was wearing was his blue backpack. Panicking and giving a girly scream, he immediately put his clothes back on and acted as if nothing happened, though you could see tints of pink on his cheeks. Makarov coughed to remind the boy who was looking away with his arms crossed of what his business was.

Calming down the boy spoke. "Oh yeah! Old man, do you happen to know about Ur Milkovich and her spell, ice shell?" The man in question brought one of his hands down to his chin in thought, while the other one was still gripping the barrel.

"Ur Milkovich, hmmm? Oh yes! I remember now! She was one of the nominees for the open wizard Saint title. She passed away recently if I recall right. But why would want to know about her..."

"Huh? Oh! I'm Gray Fullbuster, and I was her disciple, along with another boy. By the old man, what's a wizard saint?"

"A wizard saint, eh? They're ten very powerful wizards from the continent of Ishgar, given the title by the chairman of the Magic Council."

"Oh! So Ur was really strong huh? And you're one too? Wow I totally misjudged you old man!But do you know anything about her spell, ice shell, and how to reverse it?"

"Ice shell? That's quite the spell. If I recall, it turns the caster into an indestructible shell-like prism that ensnares the target, rendering him immovable and in a paralyzed, unconscious state. Thus the caster's life becomes void. Not sure if there's anything you could do to reverse the spell." Hearing the words coming out of the short figure, Gray's mood fell over in despair, feeling hopeless and even more guilty.

"So there's really nothing I can do, huh? Dammit! Why did this happen?" Refusing to cry and throw a tantrum, Gray looked up to the guild's master, to find him looking back with worrisome eyes.

"Hey, my boy, don't look so down. I might be wrong, though I doubt it. Just to be sure, however, you should go ask that blond man in the red coat, as he's read countless of books on history and spells. He might have more knowledge on the spell than me. So-" The old man stopped in his tracks as the boy had already left and was by Naruto and Cana. Makarov smiled sadly, already knowing what the results would be. The conversation between them would serve as an experience for both sides, one with accepting the drama that children carried, the other with accepting how unfair life was.

* * *

"So Gildarts left today?"

"Yeah. I was going to tell you yesterday when I came over, but, as you recall, some things came up."

"Yeah... Sorry about that." She sheepishly spoke, too embarrassed to even face him

"Here we go again. I already told you that you shouldn't worry about crying or showing any emotion. That's what makes us human, anyways."

"Okay." The quiet response was all he got, so he decided to switch the conversation.

"So where's Brian?"

"Brian? Oh! He's back at my dorm room sleeping."

"He must be pretty tired. They do say that pets can feel what their owners feel. But I'm still surprised they let you keep him with you."

"I think they just took pity on me for not having parents. It's not like I want any, but I'm still grateful that they let me keep him." She then took a sip of orange juice and was about to continue speaking but was interrupted by a new voice.

"Hey you pirate! Do you know anything about Ur Milkovich and her ultimate spell, ice shell." Looking back to the owner of the voice, she saw a boy around her age with an all too eager face. But he had just interrupted their conversation and called the blond a pirate.

"Hey don't be rude to Mr. Naruto! If you hadn't noticed, we were talking!"

"Why you! Don't butt in! This is very important for new!"

"Why you little piece of-"

"Cana! Don't you dare finish that sentence. And you,kid, stop being disrespectful. At least give your name if you're going to be like that." Came the smooth voice from the blond who was still engrossed in his book, not even being fazed by the insult.

"Alright. Alright. I'm Gray Fullbuster. Now could you answer the question?"

"Mr. Naruto, are you really going to let him be rude to you?"

"Don't worry about it Cana, he's just acting like that because of the urgency. And what did I tell you about calling me 'Mr. Naruto'."

"That I either call you Naruto, _aniki_ , or _handsome_. (5)" Muttered Cana, not liking where the conversation was going.

"That's right. We're a family in this guild, so aniki would suffice, but I kind of find it weird. Don't even get me started on _handsome_ , that was just a joke from a manga I was reading . So Naruto is just fine-"

"Hey can we get back to me now?" Interrupted a rather annoyed Gray. Couldn't these people tell that time was an essence?

"Oh? Oh! Yeah! Ur Milkovich, right? She was a well known wizard for her proficiency in ice magic and for creating a powerful imprisonment spell, ice shell. At the cost of the caster's life, you could encase any opponent in a thick dome, almost impossible to break free of."

"Almost impossible?" Gray, at this point was holding his fingers crossed that Ur could be returned to how she used to be.

"Yeah. It could be broken through a handful of methods, though most of them would take years."

"So she can be returned to norm-"

"Hold it kid. I said the spell could be broken, not that the effects on the caster could be reverted."

The words took effect immediately as the boy looked down and started to shake, with small muffles being heard. Seeing this, the blond smacked the boy on the head with the book, causing the boy to stop shaking and look up. Tears were streaming down his face, so the blond put his hand on his shoulders, and attempted to comfort him.

"Look kid, I know how hard it is to lose someone dear to you. Hell most of this guild knows that feeling. But you need to accept what happened and move on, just like life does. Let those tears water your future happiness. Your mentor taught you the most important lesson you could learn ...the value of life and the despair of death. From that, you'll grow strong with the desire to not let anyone else close to you die, and you'll understand the true meaning of life and why we protect it at all costs."

"She...did?" It was all but a whisper filled with emotion and a hint of confusion. The tears had seized from falling halfway through the blond's speech, though his voice did show he was a bit emotional still.

"Yes, she was also able of releasing all your hatred towards the world, as your eyes show a more gentler nature. They show that you despised the world for what happened, and I won't ask for the details, but that hatred's gone. All that's left is for you to forgive and accept yourself. As that burden that you're carrying won't let you fly free like the birds."

The boy looked at the blond in awe, the long face he had a few moments ago long forgotten. So these were the words of a man full of wisdom, a man from a guild with a unique atmosphere. He'd certainly join to be a man like him.

"Hey can I join?"

"Hmmm? Join? Are you alright that fast? _I was about to continue rambling on, but sure this'll save us both a lot of time._ " Came the surprised reply of the masked man, who whispered the last sentence due to how surprising the boy got back to normal

"Yeah. I've decided that joining a group like this where we're as close as family and have similar backgrounds would be best for me. Since I can't do anything about Ur, I've decided to make her proud by being one of Fiore's best mages."

"If you say so. Just know that things will never be easy, and if they are then you're doing something wrong."

"Okay! So can I join?" He was all too eager to join and this guy was just stalling his inauguration.

"Don't know. You should be allowed though we have to ask the master for permission. I'll even recommend you if need be, though I doubt it'll get to that."

"Sounds good to me. So let's get cooking."

Nodding, the man got up and took out the book he had stashed away. It was at this point that Gray noticed how taller the man was from him, hopefully he'd grow taller than him, and stronger too, which wasn't really possible as the blond was strong as hell, perhaps to the level of gods, though he didn't know that. The brunette girl he had been arguing with him moments ago, seemed very attached to the man who was now reading and walking, because she was following them. It was more like following the blond, but it still felt a bit weird, so he tried to break the silence.

"Hey, umm, Naruto right?" Getting a nod as a confirmation as they continued walking to the drunk master, the boy continued. "How come no one knows about Ur? I've asked a lot of people, but you and the old man are the only ones that have heard of her."

"Well blame society on that, as no one reads newspaper these days. I've even considered why I read it instead of watching it, but then again I'm not that fluent in technology. Sure I know about it, just not how to apply what I learned."

Gray could only face fault at the stupidity of the man he considered a role model, while Cana silently giggled. Gray could only imagine things being more interesting after he joined. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never noticed that his clothes were once again gone, though this time he only had his boxers, and the shriek of "PERVERT" that followed after by the young brunette. The next thing he knew everything went black, but he could've sworn he saw a blue bird with red hair doing circles around his head while laughing, which he found very annoying-'wait is that woody the woodpecker? Wow I really got knocked the fu-'(6) and that was as far as he got very going nighty-night-night. Witnessing the event unfold, sighing, all the blond could only think of the future drama. 'Oh well! The more, the merrier!'

* * *

Footnotes: most of them are just references if you don't get what the source is or why it's funny...or at least why I find it funny.

1\. Reference to One Piece. I don't really watch much of it, but I know some of the basics. Referenced because they were talking about Zorro, you know the guy from the movie Zorro, or the legend of Zorro, and even the mask of Zorro. And there happens to be a Zoro in One piece

2\. Inspired by Jimmy Johns fast talker commercial

3\. Classic line from SpongeBob SquarePants from the Salty Spatoon episode, like really that episode was hilarious.

4\. Reference to a Pokemon, and so is Hokey Pokey-mon and Pokemonsters. Don't know much about Pokemon nowadays, but I use to watch it when I was way younger.

5\. Reference to Bulat from Akame ga kill, known for saying that, a.k.a. 'Call me aniki or handsome', though in retrospect he was gay

6\. Woody the Woodpecker and his annoying laugh. Like how do you copy that laugh, it's just so...eugh. The 'you got the knocked the...out' is from the movie Friday, classic line from Chris Tucker.


	5. Ch 5: Training and Tomfoolery

Miss me? I know I did! Wow! I was hoping to add chapters weekly, but as you can see that's not going as planned. I got sidetracked by a lot of things during this chapters creation. First off, college is becoming a hell lot more difficult with the end of the semester approaching. I've been having a bunch of hour exams and assignments. I just finished a ten page paper a couple of weeks ago, I think like two, and I just got assigned a ten to twelve research paper. Ugh! That'll be taking a lot of time in the following weeks. _Ffffuuuunnnn_! Secondly, I think the tv network is trying to increase our obesity ratio with the amazing programs they were showing. They've been showing classic movies, and some from 21st century that I've been dying to rewatch. They've broadcasted the Karate kid franchise, both old and new, Scarface, Blues Brothers, Terminator 1-3, the Rocky franchise, Spider-Man trilogy and the _Amazing series,_ planet of the apes, die hard, jaws, and others that I can't seem to recall. Add to those movies that there were a lot of interesting games, both soccer (European), and basketball. The movies by the way, inspired some of the scenes in this chapter, and maybe also in upcoming ones too.

Also, thanks for the reviews you guys, they really let me know if I'm doing things right. I'm new here so I don't really know how to respond to them, and if I could, I doubt I could answer some of them without giving away too much. I'll answer some of them so you won't feel so lost in the story or call bull in how it makes no sense. I got the feeling that a lot of you guys might leave the story if I don't, as the story is progressing slowly. Just give it like 2-3 more chapters till everything kicks in. As Trump is known to say, though I hate the guy, you can't deny his charisma, "I guarantee it, 100%", that this story will be worthwhile, and complex and intricate in its own way. So without further ado, here we go.  
I was planning to make Naruto's background more clear in future chapter by means of dreams and daydreams, like I'm been doing. His age is almost reaching the millennium, as stated in chapter3, as he also mentions, or I try to make it look like, birthdays don't really matter. What truly matter aren't the days you live, but the moments that you do.  
A quick backstory on how there were dragons, that again, I planned on giving out in later chapters. Once upon a time, mommy Dragon loved daddy Dragon so much that a baby Dragon 'magically' appeared. Those dragons were then trained by the Otsusuki clan as a means of partners, or summons if you'd like. They were then brought to earth in the strife's with Naruto, and ended up living there as the Otsusuki clan was exterminated by none other than our hero.

As far as pairings go, I'm still a bit undecided on how it should end. I got a select few already confirmed, which I wil not state, but Naruto's is still a bit complicated. I have a few ideas on who he'll be with, but I cant really decide which one will be the winner. I guess we'll have to see with how the story progresses, hopefully I'll make up my mind in the upcoming chapters.

Onwards we go!

 _Italics are for flashbacks, or the occasional sarcastic comment or whisper_

"Quotetation marks are for speech"

'apostophres are for inner thoughts'

I don't own, or have rights for neither Naruto nor Fairy Tail, or I would've been out there publishing this by now. ...Anyways...Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5 Training and Tomfoolery

"Train me!"

"No."

"Train me!"

"No."

"Train me!"

"No", was the calm response from the blond who again flipped through another page.

"Train me!"

Yet again another "no" was the answer, and another huff of frustration sounded, obviously from Gray, who had been nagging the blond for quite some time, yet the man had to render. The man was sitting in a stool by the bar at the guild, with his back laying on the very same bar counter, reading yet again another book on spells, titled _Modern Magic_ , obviously about the new spells and magic subcategories created in the latest years. Off to his right sat a rightly annoyed Cana, swirling her glass of orange juice in her right hand while rapidly tapping the counter with her left. The guild, as always, was in a very lively manner, with an object being thrown every once in a while, which ends up hitting someone else, causing more rumbles to erupt. Packed as always, the members were being quite rowdy, but Gray's nagging could be heard throughout the guild.

Gray's transition into the guild was very smooth, as he instantly got into an argument with anyone, but most of the time it was Cana who suffered the most, resulting with Gray getting smacked around a lot. The weather outside was cold, yet you would hardly notice that with the warmth the people of Magnolia Town provided. It was winter of x775, a few days passed New Years, and Gray could honestly say that these 8-10 months were the best he ever had. The guild was a tight, united family, that though they fought and argued daily, they could look into each other's eyes, or eye for some, and proudly call him a brother. He had gone on a few missions, most of them in town with Naruto and Cana, much to her ire. Though they were simple, he had acquired a few soft skills and met the townspeople, often becoming friends with them. The last mission they went on was a few weeks ago, where they had to collect a plethora of wood to stock up for the winter. In order to get the lumber, the blond had cut down the trees effortlessly with his kunais. He threw two handfuls simultaneously, each kunai slicing through each tree like they were made of butter. When they were done splitting the wood to perfect lumber, Naruto ended up carrying eight stacked crates, about the size treasure chests, of lumber, as if they were empty, not even breaking a sweat, while both Cana and Gray struggled pushing a crate with wheels, halfway full. After that, Gray had become fixated of learning from the blond and had yet to stop bothering him.

"Train me! Train me! Train me!"

"No. No. And...hmmm", the blond took a thinking pose, giving the blue haired boy a speck of hope that was gone as fast as it came, as the blond continued with a last resounding "no", causing him to facefault.

"What! Why not! I already had some training before, so it shouldn't be that hard to teach me!"

Sighing, the mature blond closed his book and looked at the boy straight into his frustrated, dark blue eyes with his own lone, sky blue right eye. "Why do wish to train? Is it to become strong? Or could it be something else?"

"To make Ur proud of being the teacher of the strongest mage to ever live, of course!" He had on a smile that could light up the night by itself, and who could blame him with the good intentions he had. That smile, however, was short lived with the words that came out of the blond man.

"Then I reject the offer to teach you." That was all he said before he leaned back to the wall and reopened his book. The boy, who had a surprised expression after the man returned to his nonchalant nature, quickly got rid of the surprised look and wore a strained smile, with both of his eyes closed. In the background, you could see fumes forming over his head, but unexpectedly, when he spoke he didn't shout or even raise his voice, yet you could hear the venom in it.

"You reject? Oh? Could you explain why?" The boy hissed, causing the blond to sigh at his stubbornness. Like seriously, why couldn't he be more like his sweet little Cana?

" _How troublesome._ Look here Gary, you're not ready to begin training."

"Not ready? Not READY?!" The boy outburst, frustrated of the blond's excuse. "I've already started training with Ur. So don't tell me I'm not ready!-Wait! DID YOU JUST CALL ME GARY?! THE NAME'S GRAY. GRAY FULLBUSTER!"

"Again, you're not ready." The unsympathetic blond was currently picking at his ear, with his pinky, from the loud outburst, causing Gray to calm down a little, but still nowhere near calm.

"Why you! Are you saying that what my master taught me isn't good enough?! That her teachings were inadequate? Whatever that means."

"No, I'm not trying to be disrespectful towards her teachings, I'm just saying you are not ready to gain strength. I'm also quite surprised you know words like 'inadequate', but hey, the only thing impossible is impossibility itself."

"I'll have you know that I'm already very fluent in ice-make magic- Wait a minute are you calling stupid?!"

"Look kid, I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just stating things how I see them."

Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, Gray began to talk in a calm manner. "Ok. You won't train me because I'm not _ready_. But what do you mean by that?"

"The reason I've decided to not take you under my wing is the same reason I've yet to teach Cana over here." At the mention of her name, Cana perked up, also wondering why he hadn't taught her anything so far, even though she wasn't her student. "You're both still kids, and should remain like that until you've matured. I know you guys were forced to mature faster than other kids, but it's still not too late. You still have some time before you're faced to see how the real world is. The answer you gave me Gray shows that you still have time, as the answer was very childish. Training leads to having a stronger body, not being strong or powerful yourself. True strength is obtained when protecting that that is precious to you."

At this Gray went wide eyed and hesitated to speak back to the wise man. "So you still think we're kids? I don't think there's a single pure person out there that could be considered a child?"

"Perhaps. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. But isn't that the point of living. A reason to keep on fighting the battle we call life. A mystery that you hope to answer. I believe we are all children at heart. But not in the manner you guys are, but in kindness. You guys are children that want to fight the world when you have yet to win the fight against yourselves. Wanting to fight the demons out there, when you have yet to win against those inside of you. You're just children fighting for attention." Not accepting the words spoken, Gray stormed out of the guild with Cana following behind him worryingly, leaving behind a very awkward atmosphere that was engulfing the guild. The master who had been cheerfully partying with the rest of the guild, approached the man to question his actions, as his words seemed to be very harsh. The rest of the guild didn't seem to notice conversation, but the master could tell that they were now feeling its effects, thus the current mood was set up.

"...lad...are you sure that you should have told the boy all that?"

"Yes. This will now test their resolve, if they truly wish to become strong. If so, then I'll happily oblige in their training. All that matters now is their course of action when dealt with the truth." The master could only nod to Naruto's answer, hoping that everything turned out well.

* * *

It wasn't until a week later that the blond was approached by Gray. They would often encounter each other, but Gray would make an excuse to avoid any conversation. Cana was still around him during the whole week, but she never brought up the topic, simply settling to talk about trivial things. Naruto didn't mind as she would bring it up when she was ready, and that appeared to be now if her nodding to Gray, signaling him to act. They were all currently sitting in their reserved spot, that being the stools by the bar. The guild was peculiarly empty, as if they knew that this conversation was important and was to be not disturbed.

Cana and Gray both got up and faced Naruto, who put away his book to give them his undivided attention as this was going to be a really important discussion. Cana and Gray looked at each other, and vowed afterwards as a form of respect. Gray was the first to speak, still from that position, not daring to look at the man in front of him,

"We, more so I who went overboard, apologize for disrespecting you and your words." Both of them raised their heads and looked directly into Naruto's visible right eye. "Do understand that accepting what you said was very difficult, but I realized that you're right. So without beating around the bush, could you train us to have the power to protect what we find important?"

"Hmmm. Here I was expecting Cana to be the calm one, and you turn out to be more mature than you let on. What matters is that you realized your errors, and are attempting to fix it."

Cana, finally involving herself in the conversation, added her two cents. "We know that life won't be easy, even if we already have a bit of experience in those matters, but we want to be prepared by gaining the strength to face those obstacles. We promise to try our hardest at any task given, and we'll accept any judgment you have on the matter."

Smiling, the blond leaned back and opened his book, leaving the kids awaiting his response. The suspense was killing them, so they both asked him simultaneously, with a very hopeful "so?"

"I accept." At this, both Gray and Cana jumped in the air, and even managed an awkward freeze frame like in the movies, making Naruto wonder what the hell he got himself into. "I have some rules dealing with me foreseeing this training. As you guys aren't mentally prepared for the actual task, we'll be splitting the training into two sections, the spiritual training and physical training. You'll have to finish the spiritual part first before advancing to the physical one. I also won't tolerate any form of complaining or being questioned. I do what I do for a reason. And lastly, try to keep that habit of yours in line Gray."

"Huh?" Though at first confused, Gray looked down and finally noticed that he was only wearing his boxers, exposing his thin body and his black guild stamp on his left pectoral. Panicking he immediately went in search for his clothes, that seemed to be nowhere to be found. He was about to run out of the guild, but Naruto's voice stopped him at the door.

"Oh! Also, I won't be able to directly teach you magic. I'll be able to teach what to do, I just won't be able to give you a firsthand experience. If you recall, I use teleportation and a form of requip as magic." Cana raised her hand to get permission to voice out her question, to which Naruto let. "Yes Cana?"

"Don't you also use cloning magic? I remember seeing you use it the day we first met."

"Ah, so you still remember? Yes, I also use cloning magic, though I tend to not use it often or I'll get lazy. Just don't spread the word as I don't want certain people to know about it. The less some know, the easier it'll be to fool them. It's not that I want to trick the guild, it's just that I want to have an ace under my arm in case of emergencies. Try not to be secretive with those close with you as that causes bonds to be strained. Either way, you won't be learning anything magic related until much later." Both kids visibly deflated at the blond's last sentence, not really looking forward anymore to their training. "So how about we start tomorrow? Meet me at the guild at nine in the morning, and we'll travel to our training grounds together. Until then." Naruto disappeared from their sight, most likely teleporting to his room and preparing the details for tomorrow. Seeing that they had achieved their objective, Cana and Gray parted ways to prepare for what they assumed would be hell.

* * *

"Since you guys aren't mentally prepared for the training to commence, I'll have you guys encounter your inner demons and eventually overcome them, or at the very least accept who you truly are."

"I'm telling you we don't need to this. At least I don't. I'm already pretty experienced in this kind of stuff."

Sighing, the blond answered the boys concerns. "Gray we've been through this before. Physical training comes after the completion of mental training. This is necessary if you truly desire to become a strong person. If you don't do this, you'll just become a person of limited power."

"Yeah. Yeah. I get it. Doesn't mean I have to like it." The boy simply settled for crossing his arms and giving out a humph.

"Okay, now that that's settled, any more questions before we continue." At this point the till-now quiet girl, raised her hand in a manner resembling a student in school, though she was shaking.. "Yes, Cana?"

"Umm, I-I-I don't know h-how to say this, but... ummm, why are we s-s-sta-nding on very high t-tre-trees?"

The scenery was filled of leafless trees that were shaking from the small winds. And up on those high peaked trees were Naruto, Cana, and Gray, each on a different tree. They were currently in a forest in the outsides of Magnolia, isolated from any form of distraction.

"Trees? Oh! You mean why we're balancing on the peaks of trees?" Getting a very furious nod from the girl and a glare from the boy, the masked man continued explaining while flipping through another page of what the kids thought was a book on spells or mentoring, but was in fact just a plain old manga. "Well, we'll be facing your inner demons, so I thought while we're at it, why not face some of the fears you guys have and escalate them to the point where you're ready for the actual task, that is, overcoming the demons. I also wanted to see where your fears were, and" at this point he just shrugged, but continued," why not see how well balanced you are and if you were up for the task?"

"Why you! If this stupid tree wasn't moving so much, I'd be able to concentrate on my ice magic and make you fall!"

"Gray d-don't be s-so mean! Ahhh!" The girl retorted, but was soon in panic when a small breeze caused the tree she was on to swing slightly. She could also hear the boy on the tree next to her cry for help, probably facing the same fate as her. Looking up, she found the source of the breeze to be a certain blond who was blowing at them if the movement in his mask, as if his mouth was puckering for a kiss, and the mischievous glint his eye held was anything to go by. "What?! How could you Mr. Naruto?! And here I was defending you?!"

"Cana, what have I told you about calling me by?"

"Ugh! Sorry, I forgot _Naruto_. But why did you do-"

"Okay, let's get back to topic." The man proceeded to explain the exercise, ignoring the girl's indignant shout for being ignored and interrupted. "This will serve as a means of balance and obtaining concentration. With that obtained concentration, you guys will be able to focus on finding your inner selves, and once we detect where and how to get there, we'll proceed in a different manner to accept those fears and hopefully overcome them. But I procrastinate, as you should first complete this objective, which will be when you're able to maintain focus while your surroundings change or in different conditions. I estimate that you'll both be complete this step within a month or two."

"A MONTH?!" The immediate outburst from both was due to them being surprised that they were going to climb and balance on such a high altitude for a whole month.

"Or two. I already told you guys that this would be a long process. Many people take their entire lives trying to overcome those demons, some don't even try, dying with a pitiful life, where nothing was accomplished because of regrets. So get to work...oh! And try not to die." The blond finished his statement with a small smile that couldn't be seen, but was heard in his voice, and they would've noticed it if they weren't panicking.

"Not to die?!" They both screeched, surprised at the lengths their teacher was going to.

"Yeah. If you do, just try to walk it off."

Gray was outright pissed at his sensei's nonchalant attitude and was about to retort if his grip on the branch he was standing didn't slip.

That slip caused him to lose his footing, thus making him fall off the tree face first and scream helplessly. Looks of shock, disbelief, and ultimately fear crossed his face. Shock that he did he something so stupid. Disbelief from seeing that his sensei didn't give a crap or didn't notice, as he was still reading his book. And finally fear from realizing that he wouldn't be able to do anything to prevent himself from being flatten like a pancake on the ground. The fall itself felt like an eternity, with him having thoughts about his life, mistakes he made, flashes of his friends and family. He was feet away from the hard ground, so he braced himself for impact, closing his eyes and ending his screeching as he didn't want to taste the dirt. He waited for the feeling of pain to be distributed throughout his body for a good minute or so. Finally tired of the lack of pain, he opened his eyes, expecting a beautiful angel and a heavenly golden gate covered by fluffy clouds, he found his sensei holding him by the coat with his left hand while still holding the book he was currently reading in his right.

"Wh-what? ...B-but h-how did you get here so fast?...Oh man! I thought I was a goner!"

"...I already told you guys I'm not going to let you die. You guys just have to save yourself though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I won't let you guys die or stop you from doing so, but you guys have get up by yourselves and give your dying lives a meaning."

"Kind of confusing if you ask me?"

"...I guess...just get back up there."

"What! Are you insane?! I'm not getting back up there!"

"...I told you guys you wouldn't be able to handle it, so I guess I stand correct-"

"I'm climbing!" The boy quickly interrupted to prevent himself from looking like a fool, and began to immediately ascend, his fear long forgotten for now.

"You guys know that I was actually expecting it to snow last night, like the weather forecast predicted? That would've served as a cushion for when you fall."

"You actually think four inches of snow would've saved us from a fall that high?!" The boy looked incredulous at the masked man on the ground at his lack of sense and concern, from his tree branch.

"Maybe? Who knows? If it doesn't, then I'll know for next time."

"Next time?!"

"Besides, it wasn't going to be four inches, it's six. I was also going to collect all the snow around here and accumulate it around each of your trees." A smack echoed from the woods, presumably from Gray purposely hitting his head on the tree trunk. Feeling something wet fall on his hair, he looked up at the sky and saw that it was snowing. Facing his sensei, he could have sworn he was smiling under his mask. 'God dammit!' Gray had a good idea that this was going to be a long preparation period, especially with how right his sensei always was.

* * *

Time passed fast, with trees beginning to show color, their leaves growing, and flowers beginning to blossom. The spiritual training had gone without a hitch. The snow had actually accumulated to a foot during their first day of training, so the blond gave the OK to continue their daily soon-to-be routine. He even went as far to put a five foot layer of snow around their trees from the scattered snow of the woods, so they wouldn't complain about how dangerous their training was. It proved to actually be safe, though it still hurt quite a bit. Add to that the weight added by the moisture when they fell in the snow, and having to climb back up, they almost always ended up being unable to walk back into town. The tree exercise only lasted a month and half, sufficient time before the snow melted, which it did, a week after they were finished with the exercise. During that period, they were forced to balance on the trees with weights; crazy weather ranging from strong winds, blizzards, and low temperatures; and even one footed. The missions they went on also let them acquire a plethora of soft skills, such as cooking and working with hardware and tools. After completing the task, Naruto had set them up a new task of meditation for three hours a day, where they would finally face those inner demons, as the exercise just accomplished was to prepare them for facing fear and being still. That new task proved to be more difficult than the last, though it wasn't as physically tiresome, it was mentally. Every time they meditated, they would actually end up passing out halfway through. Since the fatigue was so grand, they only went on two missions a week. The meditation sessions ended by early May, the current time, as they had finally managed to meditate through the whole session, proving that they had accepted those inner demons. They still had to overcome them, but Naruto deemed that it was acceptable if they now focused on the real training, or physical in other words, as they could only overcome them through a vast amount of time. They were set on doing the physical training the same place they were doing the tree exercise, which was the reason Gray was hiding behind his old assigned tree, observing his own teacher training.

Gray watched as the masked man was doing one handed push-ups, only using his pinky, shirtless with an enormous boulder, about the size of a magical powered car, on his bare back. Gray just couldn't believe what he was watching. He was so engrossed that the man's voice caught him off guard, causing him to almost stumble on the tree he was hiding behind from.

"You're already here, huh?" The shirtless blond got up, sweat dripping from his body, grabbing a towel that was resting on top of the very same boulder that was now laying on the ground. "Though, Cana over there got here an hour before you." Looking towards the tree that the man pointed at, he noticed Cana resting in the trees shade, analyzing what appeared to be a large set of cards.

Naruto threw two of his kunai simultaneously, each hitting a different tree, one four and a half feet above of where Cana was resting, scaring her in the process, thus causing her to throw her cards in the air, the other in front of the tree Gray was hiding in, exactly at his eye level. Gray reacted by giving off a loud "eep" and then putting his hands in a wannabe karate position, so sloppy you couldn't tell if he was just playing around or that was his actual way of fighting.

"For the rest of today you guys will be doing this exercise, and I don't want to hear any complaining. I've seen the results of this training first hand, so I can vouch that it'll yield results. First off, Gray go change into your normal clothes. Also, why are you wearing that ridiculous outfit?"

Gray's attire consisted of a blue ninja-like garb, though obviously not the ones for his time, with a complete face mask, only letting his eyes to be seen. Under the garb was tight black clothing, which included the unnecessary tight pants and long sleeve. Naruto did have to admit that it looked a bit cool, but only if it was professionally made. "This? You like! I thought if we were going to learn to fight kind of like ninjas as you said, I might as well wear this. I even have a mask like you. I'll call myself Sub-Zero because I'm _cool like a ninja_!"

"Yeah. Yeah. That's great, but could you just change. And you're thinking way too ahead. How bout we just finish the exercises I have in mind for your training to an acceptable degree, and then you can do what you like? How's that sound?"

"Fine then! Let me just take off this suit- Agh! I already took it off! Stupid stripping habit!" The boy was going to take off the garb when he noticed that his chest was bare and those tight pants were miraculously off without him knowing. A quick moment later, Gray stood in front of the kunai thrown at the tree he was residing in, in his usual attire, that being his blue shirt and white coat. Off on her tree, about ten meters away, Cana was wearing what appeared to be Naruto's red coat, only in a reduced state. The coat fit her a bit big, but she seemed comfortable in it, if the manner she was smelling it and happily sighing was any indication.

"It took me all night to shrink one of my spares enough to make it fit adequately, or at least not overly baggy." Cana stopped sniffing the coat, embarrassed that she was caught by the blond, who though was aware of what she was doing while having his face stuffed in his book, didn't really understand why. "Okay, so this exercise will be simple, though I will not explain why you're going to do this, and I will not answer to any complaints. It will be essential to follow the moves exactly when doing so. So we'll start with you, Gray. Cana get over here and watch." Cana did as told, though not without taking another sniff of the coat, in what she considered secrecy, which in fact wasn't the case due to how loud she breathed in. Standing close to the blond, Cana glared at Gray who had a questioning gaze if the arched eyebrow was anything to go by.

"Okay Naruto-sensei, what am I going to do?"

"Jacket off."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Jacket off."

"Jacket?"

"Yes. Jacket off."

"Off?"

"Yes. Take the jacket off."

"Jacket?... Off?"

"Sigh... Yes take your _jacket off_."

"My..."

"Jacket."

"Off?"

"Yes."

"...okay?" The boy then proceeded in sliding his arms out of the sleeves slowly, giving off the occasional wiggle, as if the concept was foreign to him. The manner in which he was doing this seemed as if he lacked arms, which in fact was false, though you could say that he lacked brains. He was about let the coat slide off when a hand stopped him. Looking at the owner of the hand, he found to be none other than the blond sensei, who looked exasperated from the boys lack of understanding. Sighing, the man hesitated to speak, but eventually did so.

"...what just happened?"

"...I took the jacket off?"

"...No. You basically just stripped."

"...Isn't that the same?"

"No. Look, just do it normally, at a _normal_ pace."

" _Fine!"_ Taking off his coat by arching his back a bit and withdrawing his arms from the sleeves, he looked at the blond expectantly.

"Good now that will hopefully help with that habit you have." Ignoring the boy who went agape at his words, he continued with his instructions. "Now, hang your coat." The boy did as told, though begrudgingly. "Now, put it on the floor."

"What! But I just-"

"On the floor." The boy just dropped his coat, all the while being infuriated that it was going to get worn out. "Pick it up, and put it on." Which the boy did, not even trying to question the man since he had already stated he wouldn't answer any. While doing so, he swung his arms in a circular motion and was about to insert his arms into the sleeves when the blond's voice interrupted him. "Aaaannnnndddd ...stop! Perfect. You guys see that. I want you guys to do just that, with the coat resting on your back at the end and beginning of every cycle. You'll be doing this till the sunlight's gone."

"What! Are you crazy?!"

"Yeah! I agree with Gray!"

"Me? Crazy? Aren't we all in Fairy Tail? Heck, in the world?"

"B-b-but that's beside the point! It's like... noon!" Gray obviously didn't expect the reply, though he was exasperated by the answer.

"It is noon. ...Tell you what, you'll get an hour long break at 3, so you could rest and eat. Seem fair?"

"NO!" Was the loud outburst from both Gray and Cana, not looking forward to training anymore.

"How bout five half hour breaks, with one of them being a lunch break?" The boy was not going to die from exhaustion without a say, so he bravely, or stupidly, depending on your view, decided to bargain with the blond.

"No. How _bout_ no breaks and we do this till morning?" Came the masked man's offer, with no sympathy whatsoever, even adding emphasis in the way the boy spoke.

"What! That's even more outrageous! How bout four?"

"One five minute break."

"What! Five minutes?! We want four half hour long breaks!"

"Two."

"Four!"

"Two."

"Four I say!"

"Two."

"Four!"

"Two."

"Four!"

"Four."

"Two!"

"No. Four, and that's it."

"Four?! Two! And that's final!"

"Are you su-"

"Yes! I'm sure!"

"Fine then, two it is."

"Ha! Did you see that Cana?! I just fooled him into giving us two breaks! What an idiot!" A loud smack was heard throughout the woods. A large red lump was well pronounced on his head, as he was rubbing it to hopefully reduce the swelling with his ice magic.

"Ugh...Gray, you idiot! You just got outsmarted!"

"What are you talking about! I just outsmarted _him_ , not the other way around! You should be treating me better you know! I just saved us from d...o...in...g... Wait just a minute! You just tricked me!" The boy accusingly pointed his finger at their sensei, who was reading his book, giving off an innocent vibe. "I demand that we renegotiate!"

"Look can we just get started?"

"No! We're doing this right!"

"Fine. I'll give you four."

"No! Two!"

"Four."

"Two! Nothing less!"

"Fine...two it'll be."

"Haha! How do you like them apples?! See, Cana! I outsmarted him!" The girl just took a large, deep breath to prevent herself from lashing out on the idiotic Gray.

"...Gray... You're an idiot." That was all the eight year old girl could muster without saying anything that would get her in trouble.

"Me?! An idiot! But I j...ust... fool...ed... him...Dammit! Not again! One last try! Come on sensei! After this no more negotiations!"

"...Sigh ... Gray, we both know how things will end, so why do you keep doing this?"

"Just wait for it! This time things will be different! Do you know why?"

"No." Answered the blond emotionlessly, not even giving it a single thought.

"Because I'll be starting out this time! So let the bidding start! We'll take two!"

"Sigh...Four."

"Two!"

"Four."

"Two!"

"Four is my final offer."

"Oh no you don't! We'll take two! Final answer! No takesies backsies, you hear!"

"Oh? But I feel bad that you got the last say." Came the overly dramatic voice of a certain blond, trying to keep the act with Gray, who had yet to realize his stupidity.

"Well too bad! That'll show you for trying to outsmart me before!"

"Yes. I'll try to not do ever again oh _wise_ and _amazing_ Gray."

"Oh please! You're making me blush. Just call me the Super-Amazing-Spectacular-Marvelous-Magnificent-Gloriously Fanstatic," taking a breather to recompose himself from the rapid fire, he continued,"Incredible-Ultimate-Mega Gray!"

"Don't mind if I do Super-Amazing-Specta-" the blond was going to keep going with the act if it wasn't for a very pissed off Cana that interrupted him.

"Enough! Gray he just doped you _again!_ And your dumbass hasn't noticed!"

"Cana!" Was the shout from both the man and boy, shocked by what she said.

"I didn't get...dammit! It happened again!"

"Cana, what did I tell you about speaking that way?"

"That you should save them for the person you love, as they are going to really make you use them."

"What? Yes, but I meant the other thing."

"Other thing? Oh! You meant that swearing doesn't make you win an argument, it only shows you lost your cool and class?"

"Yes. I'd also add in dire situations, but that's to your judgement... Okay, so getting back on track, I believe you guys owe me some training with only one half hour break, and a fifteen minute one."

"Fifteen?! I'm pretty sure the deal was _two_ half hour breaks!"

"It was and still is. As you can see, you wasted fourteen minutes, which I've been keeping track since you started debating with me. It'll be fifteen minutes by the time we finish arguing."

"What are you trying to say?! That I'll keep wasting time with this _meaningless_ argument?! Wait! That means that the amount of breaks we were going to get was never debatab-"

"Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The clock's ticking, 'time's a wastin', and so is your break time." Without a further word, both kids began their exuberating exercise. The man's left hand went down to one of his pockets in his coat, and pulled out an old hand watch that was slowly ticking at the fifteen minute mark, proving the man correct in his prediction. He continued watching the kids do as they were told. They would give an occasional mutter during the exercise, one of them going on about _their stupid sensei_ , the other about _idiots being stupid and causing more trouble._

There laid a completely worn out Gray in nothing but his boxers. Whether it was due to the excruciating workout or his habit of stripping, though the later was more likely. Cana was resting on her designated tree, with her back on it and her hands laying lifelessly on the soft ground. You could hear soft moans coming from both of them, most likely due to their exhaustion and that there was work to be done if the barely setting sun was anything to go by.

"Ugh... Stupid...ugh...sun...why...won't...you...disappearalreadyandletmedie?!" Was an extremely tired Grays reaction to his tiredness, huffing and taking pauses in his speech, and eventually just rushing the rest to not waste any more breath.

"Wow. You guys look dead. I bet if someone saw your bodies, they'd imagine that you're just roadkill thrown out of the main paths." The impassive voice from the masked blond disrupted the boy's heavy breathing. Though tired to a great extent, he had the energy to respond to their sensei's retort.

"How can you manage to say that without any emotion? It's as if you don't care what's happening to us."

"For your information, I do care, it's just that I don't find any excitement in doing this. Should I feel sympathy? No, as nothing wrong has happened, if in case, I actually feel a bit proud that you've lasted this long."

"Does that mean we're done?" Asked a very hopeful Gray. Off to the side, Cana's ears perked up and her eyes were glimmering with that very same hope displayed by her fellow peer. Sadly, that hope died faster than the flames from birthday candles.

"Done? Oh! Aren't you the cutest?" At this, almost both of them began to tear up at his mocking. "No, you still have...do I dare say, two-three hours left. Now that I think about it, I believe your last break is over."

"What are you, crazy?! Are you trying to get charges of murder?!Slavery?! I'll have you know that I know rights and this-"

"Yes...you know your rights as much as you know your lefts, but does it matter? You both agreed to my training, so _andale, andale."_

"Why you! Cana back me up!"

"...Too...tired...to...argue-uh!" The girl in question was at a loss of breath, so as a result of talking and her sweaty body, her back slid of the tree causing her to fall face first into the ground.

"Tell you what, I'll give you some special medications to help you regain your strength." At this, Cana attempted to shift her body to look up, which proved impossible, so she settled just lay on the ground with only her face facing up in an awkward position. She would've been complaining about how uncomfortable it was, but due to her tired she was, she didn't feel anything. Going through his pockets, Naruto pulled out a small brown sackcloth bag that jiggled with every movement. Opening the bag, Naruto pulled out a large green bean, that at first view, seem nothing special, thus making both students to give a questioning gaze. "These are magical beans that helps the body recuperate lost magic energy and your physical health through some mumbo-jumbo. All you have to do is eat them and the effects will be instantaneous. I call them 'sensei beans'. Here, I'll show you." The man quickly took a bean in his mouth, without giving a single glimpse of his face whatsoever. Biting the bean with a resounding crunch and then swallowing it, he approached a thick, big tree and lightly flicked it. The effects were unbelievable as the tree shattered completely at the trunk, scattering a few hundred yards away. Both of his students were left shocked pale with their eyes popping out comically and their jaws dropped. Asserting the demonstration was done, he proceeded in handing them one each. "Amazing right? Here, how bout you guys give it a try." The man tossed one directly into Gray's mouth, who was agape at what his mentor just did. Surprised that it landed perfectly in his mouth, he was choking on the bean, giving out gags in his struggle as a means to ask for help. Ignoring the struggling boy who was now rolling around like crazy with his hands on his neck, the man approached the down Cana and put the bean in her mouth. Biting the hard green bean, she got a dirt like taste, as if the beans were plucked right out of the ground. Swallowing, she felt a surge of power, sufficient to be able to stand with ease.

"Wow! These are amazing! Did you really make these?!" Cana was truly surprised with how effective they seemed. She was skeptical if they were as her sensei claimed to be, but that was now long forgotten. Off to the side a now energetic Gray was going on, on how the beans are amazing and his sensei just tried to kill him. He was clearly ecstatic if him jumping around and screaming like a buffoon was anything to go by.

"Make? Ah! Yes. I made them with love."

"No, I meant how you grew or created these magical beans?"

"Hmm...would you believe me if I said I used sugar, spice, and everything nice?"

"...Wait, so you're telling me these beans don't really help us?"

"No. No. They do help you guys...they have a lot of protein and vitamins in them that help the body grow-"

"So they don't really instantly restore our strength?!"

"Well they could serve as a source of energy to replenish some lost energy after an intense workout, like those sports drinks, just not enough...unless you eat like a ton of them, but then you risk the chance of being too gaseous all the time, and that itself is a cursed power. A power that makes any man quiver, but that also includes yourself. Forever alone unless you find someone who can't smell and hear, and the odds of that are one-"

"Stop rambling! Uh! Are these magical beans or not?!"

"Are they magical? Or course not. Those are just some beans that I bought earlier today in the market."

"Then the magical 'sensei beans' you were talking about don't exist?"

"No, those do exist. I happen to invent them myself, but nobody, except you guys, know about it. There are some pills and spells that help restore your health or magic energy, but not both like my beans do. I just didn't give you those beans as they should only be used in dire situations, not in training. The point of training is to exhaust your body to a degree that pushes your body to its limits. Use any form of alleviate and the results won't be as productive as you're going to get used to fighting in only full strength, which almost never is the case."

"Okay, so they're real...but why'd you have to trick us?!"

"I only did that so you guys would think that you're actually at full strength. There's a saying that if you believe hard enough, whatever it is, will come true. So, if you believe you're at full power, then your body will actually act as if it was."

"That's crazy!"

"Hmmm...Then what just happened with you right now? You're standing up and conversing, unlike moments ago. What about Gray? He's still running around like a dog chasing his tail."

"Not if I tell him you gave us phonies!" The girl was about to yell to the idiot, but stopped when she realized she could blackmail her sensei. The evil gleam in her eyes, slightly caught the blond by surprise, but he already had an idea of what was going through her head. "I won't tell him if you give me another break."

"A break?" The blond feigned ignorance, already plotting a way to get one over his sweet, little student.

"Yeah! A break! And I don't mean like a brake from a magic vehicle or any other form of breaks there are. I _just_ want a _break_. A resting period if you will."

"Yes. That seems acceptable. You can have a break."

"Sigh...Thank yo-" The girl was truly grateful that things turned out for the better, or at least in her case, and was going to thank Naruto for being so considerate when she was interrupted by the same man.

"Aaaaaaannnnndddd it's gone."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's done. Your break's over. Terminated. _Fini. Capiche."_

 _"..._ No...you just gave me a break just a moment ago. How can it be over?!"

"The length was not specified, so I took it upon myself to decide when it ended, and it turns out it just did."

"You!...You!...You..ugh! Forget it!" The girl just resumed to training, wanting to just get it over with. Off to the side, Gray had placed all the _restored_ energy into his training, feeling invincible from the bean. Naruto just laid back and oversaw them, already thinking on how to progress their training and make things more interesting.

* * *

"Are you sure, sonny?" The master's voice was filled with worry, which was justified by the news Naruto had just given him.

"...Yes. The spy network that I've set up might be small, but their information is always reliable."

"But slavery? To think that it still exists? And you said that it is a cult doing these atrocities?"

"Yes. My network heard something about a facility holding them all prisoners by sea, through one of the cult's members accidentally slipping it through his drunk state. My informant is not certain where exactly it's located, but the details he was given add up with some events that happened around the area, such as disappearances."

"My god! ...So are we going to go inform the council of this predicament?"

"...About that, would it be alright if I went and investigated first? I want to do some espionage and find out if anything like this is occurring somewhere else and if they are involved in anything else. I'll be infiltrating as a slave of course."

"What?! Why would I let you do something that'll be so dangerous? This is in the S-class mission range you know."

"I'll be fine. I can use teleportation magic in case the situation goes wrong. I'm also quite experienced in combat and have a plethora of survival skills. Just trust me, master." At this, Naruto closed his book and looked directly at Makarov. His eye held a strong resolve, and the action of closing his book proved that he was serious about the matter.

"You'll be going regardless of what I say right?" A solid nod was Naruto's response, so sighing, he relented. "...Fine. Go do what you feel needs to be done, but if I don't hear from you by two weeks, I'll go to Era and inform the magic council myself. Understood?" The blond simply nodded again, knowing that he wouldn't take that long anyway, especially with his high sensing abilities. "Good. Now that that's settled, what are you going to with Gray and Cana's training. How has that been going by the way?"

The question brought back memories of what had happened in the last few months. He had them train eight hours a day for a month, no matter the weather, with the jacket exercise, much to their ire. What followed afterwards was a series exercises that seemed more like chores, but they at least got a form of payment as they were all missions. They were washing and waxing floors with rags, in a circular motion, where the right hand went clockwise and the left went counterclockwise; painting walls, including their own guilds, in a sideway pattern; and painting fences up and down. They had only taken missions concerning those exercises for two months. At that mark, Gray had, as predicted, thrown a tantrum on how they weren't learning anything useful.

" _This is stupid! Why do we keep doing this?! When are we going to learn how to break things with punches?!" The trio were currently returning from painting a townsfolk's house siding when Gray had the outburst. He faced his mentor, expecting answers, but was sadly disappointed when the man had his face stuffed in his signature book, The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi._

 _"I already told you that I wasn't going to answer any questions dealing with my teaching techniques."_

 _"But we've been doing stupid chores for someone else all this time! You could have at least taught us how to punch by now!"_

 _Naruto could only sigh at his student's stubbornness. It wasn't really a bad thing to be stubborn, but he was just stubborn in the wrong areas. "How about we go play some boardgames, that I'll be deciding on, and we'll take it from there?"_

 _Both of them happily obliged, as anything would be better than going back to guild and search for more missions and eventually heading to their own respective rooms when they couldn't find any. Arriving at the half full guild, Naruto sat on the most isolated bench he could find, with his students following closely, still a bit dazed that they weren't going to do anything related to training._

 _"So what are we going to play?" Asked Cana, worried that they were going to play a very complicated game._

 _"You and I are going to play..." at this pause, Naruto pulled out two small scrolls and applied a bit chakra, causing smoke to envelop them. Once the smoke dissipated, a stack of cards and a set of chess were in their place. "...pokemonsters." Cana could only gape that they were going to play one of her favorite card games. What were the odds that she was actually going to play a game that she enjoyed?_

 _"Wait! What about me?!" A very concerned Gray voiced his thoughts, fearing that he would have to play a complex game, or not play at all._

 _"I'll also be playing with you at the same time, except we'll be playing chess." Gray could only smack his head on the table out of pure frustration. Why did he get the hard one? Looking at Cana and then Gray, Naruto proceeded in explaining the rules. "Here's the deal...for every piece you manage to defeat, I will answer one question? Sounds good?" Both Gray and Cana furiously nodded, thinking they had a good possibility in having some answers. Cana was pretty good in pokemonster duels, and it was pretty simple to get rid of pieces in chess since there were so many. Who couldn't get rid off of a pawn? Even Gray doubted he was that stupid. "Oh? Cana, you know how to play this card game, right?"_

 _"Duh! I have almost every single card, and I've seen every episode, and almost every rerun!" You could practically see her excitement with the way her eyes ridiculously enlarged and shimmered._

 _"Okay. I've only played this game a handful of times, but we'll see how well it'll go. How about you, Gray? Do you know how to play chess?"_

 _"I know the basics, so that should be good enough."_

 _"So what do you guys say if we get started?"_

 _Not a minute later, both Gray and Cana were slumping on the table, sulking at their utter defeat._

 _"How is this possible? We didn't last a single minute. I didn't even manage to get a stupid pawn? And you?! I thought you were good at pokemonsters! How did he manage to beat you with only one card?!"_

 _"Me?! How did you manage to lose with only one move?!"_

 _"Why! I'll have you know that I'm an amateur, while you're an expert! If I knew how to play, I would've-"_

 _"Enough." Naruto interrupted their heated argument, as he didn't want them to mess up their close friendship over something so stupid. "You'll have more opportunities for rematches later. We'll be playing for two hours a day, for one week, right after we complete our daily missions. If you don't manage to get a piece by then, then I'll end the deal."_

 _It wasn't until five days later that Cana was able to defeat Naruto's Pee-peechu, thus earnings the right to question the blond. She was so ecstatic, that she almost asked how it felt to finally lose, though luckily a surprised shout from Gray reminded her of their objective. So taking a breather, she asked the question that had been on her mind for months._

 _"Yeah! I won! So I get to ask a question, right? Okay! Why did you have us do those stupid exercises?"_

 _"And we start out with the big question. If you haven't noticed, everything I do has a meaning, and that also applies to the training I've been teaching you. The exercises you claimed to be just annoying chores and paid labor were meant to teach you the movements of the fighting techniques I'm going to be showing you. They also served as a means to build muscle, gain discipline, and help out the guild. You also learned some essential soft skills, such as social skills from the encounters with our employers. These games also served a purpose, besides improving your patience and poker faces, as you always want to remain calm or you'll be easy to read. During the match, you need to remain composed in order to not give anything away, and keep a clear mind, focused only on the battle in front of you. Whatever happens afterwards you'll worry about when you cross that bridge. You, Cana, played pokemonsters to enhance your skills with handling cards, as you want to learn card magic, and strategy. Chess served as a way of improving your focus Gray, and of course your strategy. Chess, however, has a deeper meaning than being just a game. It reminds us that king is always prioritized. The king represents the next generation, as though they aren't the strongest piece, they hold the power of the whole game. White, as in pure as a child's heart, always goes first, and it ends up battling sins and villains, the result unknown, but fought hard for."_

 _"Wow! And here I thought you were just being lazy! I'm sorry I doubted you Naruto."_

 _"Don't worry about it, just try to have more trust in me. You better hurry up Gray if you want have some questions answered. You also don't want to be one upped by Cana, do you?"_

 _At this, fire grew in the ice mage's eyes, determined to not be upstaged by a girl. "Just you wait I'll have you eating your words with a pinch of salt. No wait! When I win I'm going to hand you an apple and say BAM! HOW'D YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?!" Gray then ran out of the guild, most likely to study and prepare for the upcoming challenges._

It wasn't until the next day that Gray managed to steal a single spawn, though it cost him most of his arsenal. He immediately got in his face and proceeded to do what he said he would. He ended up asking when they would begin to be actually taught through direct methods, to which he simply smiled. That smiled signified that start of their actual training, or as they referred to as torture. Along with doing that, they would end the day by having a game to increase their mentality.

The months really felt short, and next thing they knew, it was early x776. Remembering that the source of his reminiscence was Makarov's question, Naruto smiled and answered the old man. "They're really progressing well. Not only have they managed to absorb my teachings like a sponge, but they also managed to beat two of my pieces and last seven minutes. I'll inform them of my departure right after they finish with today's tortu- I mean training session."

"When will you leave by the way?" Inquired the old man.

"I'll leave tomorrow at dawn."

"Dawn, huh? What a strange time?"

"Yeah, I heard that the hour before dawn is the darkest. Not just that, but many, myself included, consider dawn to be the start of a new day, instead of midnight."

"What a strange belief?"

"The world itself is a strange place. Now, if you don't mind I'll be informing my students and preparing for my two week departure."

* * *

A figure in a red coat stood on the coastal beach facing the rising red sun, the sea giving a beautiful reflection. Upon closer inspection, the figure had blond hair that was waving with the wind and wore a headband that was covering his left eye, and a mask that completely covered his mouth. The figure, none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who had teleported to the location his informant had left his kunai as that was where the informant had encountered the cult member, as he had been ordered by the blond. Naruto had his right eye closed, most likely trying to sense any life form within the area, more specifically across the sea. Opening his eye, he had confirmed the location of several life forms that were hanging to their lives by a thread. Target acquired. Fifty miles northeast. Hope was on its way.


End file.
